Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth (a name derived from a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth), also called Freedom Day - celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation announcement in Texas. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves.

As of June 2008, 28 states, and the District of Columbia, have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday or state holiday observance, including Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Delaware, Idaho, Alaska, Iowa, California, Wyoming, Missouri, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, Washington, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Vermont, and North Carolina

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth