The 50-Star American Flag Came from a High School Project

In 1958, Ohio high schooler Robert Heft submitted a class project that would change our country forever. Heft's history teacher gave his class an open-ended assignment: make a project illustrating your interest in American history. So Heft redesigned the 48-star American flag to include two additional stars for Hawaii and Alaska. Though his teacher was not impressed, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ultimately took an interest … The rest, as they say, is history.