Tiktaalik is a transitional fossil; it is to tetrapods what Archaeopteryx is to birds, troodonts and dromaeosaurids. 1  While it may be that neither is ancestor to any living animal, they serve as evidence that intermediates between very different types of vertebrates did once exist.
Minnesota became a part of the United States as the Minnesota Territory in 1849, and became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858.
On July 4, 1805, the District of Louisiana became a Territory. On April 30,1812, the Territory of New Orleans was admitted to the Union as the State of Louisiana. To avoid confusion, the Territory of Louisiana was renamed the Territory of Missouri on June 4, 1812. Louisiana became the 18th state of the United States on April 30, 1812. The statehood was made possible by a historical event known as the Louisiana Purchase which happened in 1803. During the event, the United States under President Jefferson, paid fifteen million dollars to Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, for the area known as Louisiana.