Tuesday, May 5, 2009

I almost forgot!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.

The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had known no defeat for almost 50 years. However, Cinco de Mayo is not "an obligatory federal holiday" in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily.

While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. However, a common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish), the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

[Wikipedia entry, Cinco de Mayo]
I note that it's a particularly fitting American Mexican holiday: celebrating the triumph of the little guy!

1 comment:

  1. do you know the story of the San Patricio Brigade?

    Irish immigrants signed up for the USer Army in the Mexican War of 1847, but seeing the imperialist and oppressive nature of the invasion, they deserted en masse and joined the Mexicans to repel the Gringos.

    They fought with great bravery and ferocity. Many were captured and executed by the USers after the War...

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