Congress has passed, and President Biden has now signed, legislation making June 19th — Juneteenth — a national holiday. June 19th is the anniversary of the June 19, 1865, announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom from slavery in Texas. President Lincoln’s January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation officially outlawed slavery in the rebelling states, but enforcement in remote Texas was spotty at best. Ironically, after June 19th 1865, slavery remained legal in two Union states – Delaware and Kentucky – for another six months until the December 6, 1865, ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery nationwide.

Only one U.S. patent to date references Juneteenth — Ivy Antrinette Marlonia’s U.S. Patent No. 8,136,962, on Remote Controlled Hideaway Holiday and Party Lighting. According to Ivy, her party lighting can be used to celebrate a number of occasions, including Juneteenth: