Today is Juneteenth, which celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865, Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended that enslaved persons were now free. This was, notably, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation (which became official on January 1, 1863).
Juneteenth had already been deemed a “day of commemoration”; while not a “holiday”, it was “a day set aside in recognition and special honor of a person, persons, group ideal or goal.” NY Executive Law § 168-a.
Recently, Governor Cuomo declared Juneteenth a holiday for New York State employees.