Puebla holds an annual battle reenactment on Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla

On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza repelled a larger, more well-equipped French army at Puebla. The French endured roughly 500 deaths before retreating. Though the French ultimately captured Puebla a year later, the improbable one-day victory became a symbol of national pride.

Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday concentrated in Puebla and celebrated with local cuisine

Puebla is considered by many food experts to be an excellent culinary destination. Traditional dishes you may find there on Cinco de Mayo include mole poblano, a complex, dark sauce born in a 17th-century convent; chalupas, fried tortillas topped with salsa and meat; and chiles en nogada, stuffed peppers topped with walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.

Cinco de Mayo holiday celebrations originated with California's Mexican Americans during the Civil War

California Latinos first celebrated Cinco de Mayo in 1862 through patriotic assemblies called Juntas Patrióticas. Ardent Union supporters, these individuals saw the Puebla victory as a win for democracy against both French imperialism and the Confederate cause.

Why Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the US than Mexico

Many in the United States believe Cinco de Mayo (celebrated annually on May 5) is Mexico's equivalent of the Fourth of July, but that's a common misconception: The holiday commemorates a battle in the fight for independence rather than the day Mexico declared independence. Interestingly, the holiday is more celebrated in the US than in Mexico, largely thanks to the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16

Cinco de Mayo is widely mistaken for Mexican Independence Day. September 16 is the actual date, commemorating the 1810 Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo's call to revolution that launched Mexico's war against Spanish colonial rule.

The Chicano movement revived Cinco de Mayo as a symbol of resistance in the 1960s

After decades of little relevance, Chicano civil rights activists on campuses across the Southwest reclaimed the holiday in the late 1960s. Members of the movement described it as a declaration of cultural pride and self-determination

Beer companies turned Cinco de Mayo into a mass consumer event in the 1980s

Starting in the early 1980s, breweries including Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors created Hispanic marketing departments and sponsored Cinco de Mayo events. By 2003, American beer companies spent over $5M annually on Cinco de Mayo advertising. Some users may experience a paywall.

Some cemeteries in Mexico are known for their elaborate Day of the Dead celebrations

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Athletes in Mexico are reviving a 3,000-year-old sacred sport

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A town in Peru holds a massive fistfight on Christmas

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The annual “Fiesta” parade features the largest equestrian parade in the US

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Hikers can walk through Maya routes on Mexico’s first long-distance trail

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The Aztec capital fell after a brutal 75-day siege

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Goya's 'The Second of May 1808' inspired Picasso's 'Guernica'

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Chichen Itza was one of the Maya world’s most powerful cities

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Revolutionary War reenactments have taken place for centuries

The first known reenactment of the war occurred in 1778, while the war was still ongoing. A journal entry from a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army remarked that soldiers had commemorated a “Glorious victory obtained over the British” at Saratoga with “a Grand sham fight.”

Ceren: The Maya Pompeii (sans all the bodies)

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See a day in the life of an Aztec midwife

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The Indianapolis 500 has been tied to Memorial Day weekend since the very first race in 1911

Organizers chose Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) because local farmers had finished haying and the holiday drew big crowds. The race has run around Memorial Day ever since, with the only exceptions being a few weather delays, the two World Wars, and the 2020 pandemic.

Mardi Gras blends pagan celebrations with Christian traditions

The holiday has its roots in pagan celebrations, like ancient Rome's Saturnalian and Lupercalian festivals, which celebrated spring and fertility. Rather than abandoning these traditions, Catholic leaders in Rome incorporated their spirit into a celebration that would expel citizens' debauchery in preparation for the sacrifices they'd endure during the Lenten season. Around the world, this holiday season is called Carnival, though the New Orleans version is usually called Mardi Gras.

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A Marine’s-eye view of the Battle of Iwo Jima

February 19, 2023, marked the 78th anniversary of the beginning of the battle of Iwo Jima. A decisive battle in World War II's Pacific Theater, most American's associated the iconic "raising of the flag" photo with the fight. This five-minute video provides a glimpse of what the six-week fight was like from the vantage of an individual US Marine.

The traditional parade takes place on the first Sunday of the festival

The parade offers a peek into Oktoberfests of yesteryear, from the Münchner Kindl, a beautiful Munich native who opens the parade, to the Goaßlschnalzen, a float full of men cracking whips.

An in-depth history of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot

Guy Fawkes Day has been celebrated on November 5 in the United Kingdom for over four centuries, with bonfires, fireworks, and effigies. But who was Guy Fawkes, really? Learn about the Catholic radical who was a member of a group of 13 men eventually executed for their attempts to blow up Parliament and the king.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

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