Calendar for March 28th, 2011

Seward's Day (Alaska)

On March 30, 1867, thanks to Secretary of State William H. Seward, the United States bought the Alaska territory from Russia. Though it was known at the time as “Seward’s Folly,” the purchase was a real bargain—the entire state of Alaska cost $7,200,000, or about two cents per acre. Seward’s Day commemorates the signing of the treaty and is observed in Alaska on the last Monday in March.