Hey Gang,

Well Sunday is a Holiday.  Cinco de Mayo.  I’ve lived in Texas for almost 11 years now, and so far, one person I’ve asked actually knows what this holiday celebrates.  Do you know?  Here are a few things you might not know about the 5th of May.

Fiesta on the Beach
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-         Cinco de Mayo is actually more popular in the U.S. then in Mexico.  The party picked up on the North side of the border during the 50’s & 60’s, in part, thanks to FDR’s “Good Neighbor” policy of strengthening ties with Latin America.   It’s not even a national holiday in Mexico.  Why, you might ask, is Mexican Independence not a national holiday?  This brings us to our next point…

Mexican Flag
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-         Cinco de Mayo in not a celebration of Mexican Independence.  Mexican Independence Day is September 16th, and is called “Grito de Dolores”.  It commemorates the day in 1810 when a Catholic priest declared war on Spain.

-         Cinco de Mayo Celebrates a victory over France.  In 1861 Mexico defaulted on loans from a bunch of European countries.  The next year France invaded.  You might find this hard to believe but at that time France had not be beaten in war for 50 years.  On May 5th, 1862, Mexico spanked that French ass and won the Battle of Puebla.

 

Margarita
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So this year, put the Corona’s on ice and celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a toast to the soldiers who were victorious at the Battle of Peubla.

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