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Happy Cinco de Mayo! Time for a History Lesson

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has a St. Paddy's-ish thing to it (i.e. It's an excuse to get blotto on a school night at all-you-can-drink...

Siobhan O'Connor
By Siobhan O'ConnorMay 07, 2009
Siobhan O'Connor
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In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has a St. Paddy's-ish thing to it (i.e. It's an excuse to get blotto on a school night at all-you-can-drink college bars). But like St. Patrick's Day, it also has some more sober origins-a classic tale of an underdog's unlikely victory at war.Cinco de Mayo is not-not-Mexican Independance Day. You maybe knew that, already. What it does commemorate is Mexico's 1862 victory over the French, which may or may not have been trying to seize the capital during its invasion of that country to try to get its foreign debt payments back after the Mexican-American Civil War.The battle took place in Puebla, and Mexico had an army literally half the size of France's. They toppled them anyway, and have been celebrating every since. Sort of. Actually, from what I understand, Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico, celebrated only in Puebla. It's America that's blown it out with mediocre margaritas and two-for-one tacos. (Cupcakes look good, though.)Anyway, it's still one of the better holidays of the year, and if nothing else, it is a nice opportunity to celebrate a people who make up 9 percent of the national population, and have helped build this country from the bottom up.Cupcake via

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