1937

- The International Whaling Commission establishes regulations for whale hunting, and gives protection to gray and right whales.

1942

- June 3: A large carrier-based Japanese force attacks Dutch Harbour

- June 7: The Japanese land almost 2,500 troops on the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska. It took a huge Allied force until August 15, 1943 to regain control - the final invasion force numbered 34,426 troops.

- September 24: Alaska Highway opened at Contact Creek, 305 miles north of Fort Nelson, B.C.

1944

- February 16: Final weld on the Canol pipeline laid on by Bob Shivel, 20 months after the project began.

1946

- April 1: Alaska Highway turned over to Canada, in a ceremony at Whitehorse.

1947

Alaska Highway opened to civilian traffic.

1951

- February 22: After 3 years of rumours, the federal government approves moving the capital of the Yukon from Dawson City to Whitehorse. A new Federal Building was constructed in 1952, and the Territorial Council chambers were moved the following year, with the first meeting held in Whitehorse in April.

1952

- Hunting of bald eagles in Alaska is banned - it had been banned in the rest of the United States since 1940.

1959

- January 3: Alaska becomes the 49th State.

1964

- March 27 (Good Friday): An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 on the Richter Scale hits the Anchorage area, killing 115 people and destroying hundreds of homes.

1967

- November 6: Jean Gordon, the Yukon's first female member of the Territorial Council, takes her seat.

1968

- July: The oil riches of Alaska's North Slope, first reported almost 100 years ago, are confirmed by a drilling program at Prudhoe Bay. The following year, a total of $990,220,590 was bid in a one-day lease sale of those properties.

1971

- January 23: The temperature at Prospect Creek, Alaska, dropped to 80 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States.

- December 18: The Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act (ANCSA) is signed into law by the President. Among the major provisions were the transfer of title to 40 million acres of land to native corporations, and a cash payment of $962.5 million.

1973

- February 14: The Yukon Native Brotherhood presents a Statement of Claim to the federal government, stating their position on land claims, self-goverment and other issues which had been published in January in "Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow".

1975

- March 27: The first section of pipe for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez is laid. By August, 21,600 people were working on the project. The first oil was put through the 800-mile line on June 20, 1977.

1979

The Dempster Highway from Dawson to Inuvik, NWT is completed, after being under construction since 1958.

1980

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act is passed, giving subsistence harvesting preference to rural residents - this became a very controversial issue.

1988

- February 3: PL 100-241, the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act Amendments, are signed by President Regan. The amendments gave more flexibilty to the corporations managing Settlement lands.

1989

- March 24: The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.

1993

- May 29: The Umbrella Final Agreement is signed by representatives of the Council for Yukon Indians and the Yukon and federal governemnts, establishing the basic format for all 14 Yukon First Nations land claims agreements.

200,000,000 BP - 1799 AD

1800 AD - 1875

1876 - 1899

1900 - 1929

1930 - 2000

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