Chez Chesler

I just noticed that we've had a 50-star flag for a long time. The 48-star flag was in effect from February 14, 1912, when Arizona joined the union, until January 3, 1959, when Alaska joined the union, 46 years 323 days, or 17,125 days. Up until then, that was the longest gap between adding states. (Prior to that the longest gap was between Missouri on August 10, 1821 and Arkansas on June 15, 1836, 14 years 310 days.) The 50-star flag has been in effect longer than any other. There has not been a new state added to the union since Hawaii on August 21, 1959. The old record was quietly tied last summer, on July 11, 2006. We are now in the longest period that no new state has been added to the United States of America since the founding of this country. I see Catholic Sensibility noticed this on September 4.