Juneteenth (1865)
On June 19, 1865, Union Army general Gordon Granger made the announcement that slaves were freedom from Texas. Juneteenth is now officially celebrated annually in all states but Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Juneteenth traditions include reading the Emancipation Proclamation and reading works of esteemed African-American writers like Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou.
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1865)
The sixteenth president of the United States was assassinated on April 14, 1865 by stage actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln was the first U.S. president to be assassinated; his burial and funeral resulted in an extended period of mourning across the nation.