1. On August 15, 1900, a group of prospectors discovered gold in Nome, Alaska, leading to the famous Nome Gold Rush.

2. On August 15, 1917, the USS F-1 submarine sank off the coast of Cape Suckling in Alaska, killing all 21 crew members.

3. On August 15, 1953, the Alaska Statehood Committee was formed to push for Alaska's admission as the 49th state of the United States.

4. On August 15, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior, recognizing Alaska's claim to submerged lands up to three miles offshore.

5. On August 15, 2012, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the polar bear would remain listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to the loss of sea ice habitat in Alaska.