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May 5, 2008

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

AP/Photo
Members of Ballet Folklorico spin while marching during the Cinco de Mayo parade in Detroit yesterday.

Today is not Mexican Independence Day.

It’s instead a celebration of the unlikely victory of what might be considered an inferior army over French troops.

After the Mexican-American War, which ended in 1848, the French began an occupation in Mexico.

On May 5, 1862, an advancing French army was held off, and then driven out by an ill-equipped army of about 5,000 Mexicans.

The battle became known as the Batalla de Puebla, and now, we know it as Cinco de Mayo, the Fifth of May.

According to the University of California, the festival is celebrated more robustly in the United States than in Mexico.

So put on some red, green and white, try your hand at rolling up some tamales, and celebrate the past victory of our neighbors to the south.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 8:23 AM | Permalink

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Tom | May 5, 2008 9:11 AM link

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