Seward's Ice Box, Icebergia, Polaria, Walrussia, and Johnson's Polar Bear Garden were satirical names coined by members of the U.S. Congress during debate over the Alaska Purchase[1]
Capital punishment in Alaska: none. Alaska abolished the death penalty prior to statehood, eight men were executed by the earlier territorial government (1900–1959) and even earlier "Miner's Courts" executed a number of men in the 19th century.[4]See also Capital punishment in the United States; William Fentress Thompson and "Jerked to Jesus" (in regard to capital punishment and the early history of Fairbanks).
State bird: Willow ptarmigan, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955. It is a small (15–17 inches) Arctic grouse that lives among willows and on open tundra and muskeg. Plumage is brown in summer, changing to white in winter. The willow ptarmigan is common in much of Alaska.
State flower: Wild/native forget-me-not, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1917.[5] It is a perennial that is found throughout Alaska, from Hyder to the Arctic Coast, and west to the Aleutians.
^Green, Melissa S. (September 21, 2001) [July 20, 2001]. "A History of the Death Penalty in Alaska". University of Alaska Anchorage. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Alaska as a state has never had a death penalty. However, in Alaska's territorial days, eight men were executed under civil authority between 1900 and 1957. Other persons in Alaska were executed extrajudicially in the late 19th century under so-called "miner's laws." There is currently no easily available information on executions that may have taken place under military authority in Alaska.
Alaska State Databases – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Alaska state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.