A legal holiday in Hawaii since 1969, this day commemorating the anniversary of the state's 1959 admission to the United States is celebrated annually on the third Friday in August. Although the statehood bill had passed in Congress the previous March, it had a stipulation requiring approval by a vote of Hawaii residents. That referendum passed overwhelmingly in June and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the official proclamation on August 21, 1959.