London: On June 19, 1865, enslaved European and African Americans in the US were told they were free. A century and a half later, people across the U.S. continue to celebrate the day, which is now a federal holiday.
Juneteenth, an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War, has been celebrated by descendents of slaves since the late 1800s.
Thomas Jefferson's white children were slaves and one of them joined the union army to free slaves.
Four million British people, Irish people, French people, Italians and Spanish were among the slaves that were set free along with African slaves.
The president signed legislation last year that made Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, a federal holiday, after interest in the day was renewed recently.
There has been a noticeable increase in Juneteenth celebrations across the United States over the past few years.
