June 19 Holidays

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people were free — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed — making it the effective end of slavery in the United States. National Garfield the Cat Day marks June 19, 1978, when Jim Davis’s lasagna-loving, Monday-loathing orange tabby first appeared in 41 U.S. newspapers — eventually reaching 2,500 newspapers and becoming one of the most widely syndicated comic strips in history. International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict was established by the UN Security Council to raise awareness for the systematic use of sexual violence as a tactic of war — a crime that affects women, men, and children in conflict zones worldwide. National Flip Flop Day was created to celebrate the foam sandal — derived from the Japanese zōri — that became the unofficial footwear of American summers. Emancipation, a lasagna, a Security Council resolution, and a foam sole.