Friday, May 5, 2006

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! But what does it celebrate?

Contrary to what some believe, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s independence day. Rather, it commemorates the battle victory in 1862 of 4500 Mexican troops against 6500 French soldiers trying to preserve French intervention in Mexico.

Also on this date, the U.S. invaded the Dominican Republic (1916), Alfredo Stroessner came to power in Paraguay (1954), and Iran-Contra congressional hearings started to be televised (1987).

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