This day in history: Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is not, as many gringos assume, Mexican Independence Day. That is celebrated on 16th of September (or in espanol: el Dieciseis de Septiembre). Cinco de Mayo (aka May 5th) is the anniversary of a battle that took place between the Mexicans and the French in 1862.

This battle, in particular, was significant to the Mexicans, because their poorly-armed force of around 4,500 peasants fended off the French invasion of a well-armed, professional army led by Napoleon III that had about 8,000 soldiers. This battle is popularly known as the legendary "Battle of Puebla." (Puebla is a small city about 100 miles east of the capital, Mexico City.) The battle lasted for 4 hours and ended in the victory of the small Mexican army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. It became a national rally for unity and pride. It was, as Time magazine noted, like a Mexican David defeating a French Goliath. 

The Mexican victory, however, was short-lived. A year later, the French returned with 30,000 soldiers, overthrew the Mexican army, capture Mexico City, and establish Emperor Maximilian I as ruler of Mexico for the next three years. (Then the US, no longer distracted by its Civil War, aided Mexico, and the French were once and for all expelled from Mexico.)

While the memory of the battle has faded in Mexico, the holiday has only grown in popularity in the US. There are conflicting claims as to when and how Cinco de Mayo came to be celebrated in the US. A 2007 UCLA paper stated that the holiday has been observed in California since 1864. Some sources report that it didn't really come into form until the 1940s and 50s. One story claims that the first Cinco de Mayo celebration was staged by California State college students in 1967, as they wanted to both celebrate their heritage and launch a Chicano Studies program at the university. And some say, it really didn't take off until the 1980s when major beer manufactures saw it as a tremendous marketing opportunity. Perhaps, like any broad social custom, all of those are true, and many more factors have mixed and merged together to form what we now know as Cinco de Mayo.

Viva!