The United States will recognise Juneteenth as a new national holiday, after the bill was passed into law today.
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the US which occurred on the 19th June 1865, where news of freedom finally reached slaves in Texas two months after the Confederates surrendered during the Civil War.
Democrat Representative Carolyn Maloney says, "I cannot think of a more important milestone to commemorate than the end of slavery in the United States."