February 14, 1912: Arizona Is Admitted As the 48th State

February 14, 1912: Arizona is admitted to the Union as the 48th State. It produces one of the most distinctive State Flags, and produces, starting the following July 4, one of the most familiar versions of the American Flag, the 48-star version that flew in World War I and World War II.

Arizona was in the Southest. It had been acquired as part of the Mexican Cessation of 1848, after the Mexican-American War, with an addition part of it, in the southeast, coming from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. It has become known for the Grand Canyon, its Native American and Wild West heritage, and for its heat -- but, as the saying goes, it's a dry heat. It's also known as a retirement destination, especially for people from Chicago, as Florida is to New York and New Jersey.

Arizona has been politically conservative, with a Western-style libertarian bent, favoring land rights and gun rights. Senators Barry Goldwater in 1964 and John McCain in 2008 have been nominated for President by the Republican Party. Because of Goldwater, no Democratic nominee won Arizona between Harry Truman in 1948 and Bill Clinton in 1996, but Joe Biden won it in 2020.

Carl Hayden, a Democrat, was the President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate from 1957 to 1969, making him the highest-ranking member of Congress from the Grand Canyon State. The highest-ranking Arizonan in a President's Cabinet has been Janet Napolitano, a former Governor who served as the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013.

The University of Arizona is in Tucson. Arizona State University is in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix, the State's capital and largest city. The State's 1st major league team was the Phoenix Suns, who arrived in the NBA in 1968. It took a while for sports to catch up to Phoenix's great growth, but the United States Football League had the Arizona Wranglers in 1983 and '84, merging with the Oklahoma Outlaws to become the Arizona Outlaws in 1985. The Philadelphia Eagles were nearly moved to Phoenix that year, and the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals moved there in 1988, taking the name "Phoenix Cardinals" until 1994, when they became the "Arizona Cardinals."

In 1996, the original version of the Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes, becoming the Arizona Coyotes in 2014. And after decades of Spring Training games, and the Pacific Coast League's Phoenix Giants, Phoenix Firebirds, and Tucson Indians, Major League Baseball finally arrived in 1998, with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The World Hockey Association had the Phoenix Roadrunners from 1974 to 1977. It took me years to notice that they had a team named the Roadrunners, and later a team named the Coyotes. (UPDATE: In 2024, the Coyotes moved to Salt Lake City, becoming the Utah Mammoth.)

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February 14, 1912 was a Wednesday. There were no games on this day: The only professional sports league then active in North America was Canada's National Hockey Association, but no games were scheduled.