How many years passed between the end of slavery in Texas (June 19, 1865) and the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday?
156 years
The answer was 156 years. Here's the why, the decoys, and the source trail.
Know someone who'd pause on this one? Send them the question.
Try today's live question, or browse previous answers when you want another quick dive.
Like this answer? Get tomorrow's question around 8 AM.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021 — 156 years after Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to announce that enslaved people were free. It was the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.
This answer is checked against U.S. National Archives — Juneteenth and Wikipedia — Juneteenth.
A good trivia question makes the wrong answers feel close. Here is the clean read on the set.
- 146 years - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- 150 years - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- 156 years - correct answer.
- 160 years - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
156 years is the one to remember. Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021 — 156 years after Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to announce that enslaved people were free. The Emancipation Proclamation had technically freed enslaved people in Confederate states on January 1, 1863 — more than two and a half years before the news finally reached Galveston.
We may earn a commission.
Sources: U.S. National Archives — Juneteenth, Wikipedia — Juneteenth