On May 5th, 1862, near the city of Puebla, Mexico, the French army was temporarily turned back by mexican forces and the battle won under President Benito Juarez. The french took advantage of the fact that the US was tearing itself apart in the Civil War and, looking for a stronger presence in the americas, ( Martinique ain't much to brag about ) engaged in a little act of imperialism which was normal for the era. Days later, the french regrouped and stormed Puebla and a few weeks later Mexico City itself. Maximilian the first, puppet ruler installed by his brother in law Napoleon the third, governed until 1867 when France decided it needed those troops back home to help in the defence of the homeland after Prussia defeated Austria in 1866 and Germany as we know it was born. Maximilian was executed by mexican forces. Cinco de Mayo is a holiday in Mexico celebrating that battlefield victory, not mexican independence day as so many gringos think. Like Saint Patrick's day, it is a bigger deal in the US than in Mexico, or Ireland respectively, and its real purpose is simply a reason to eat too much and get **92**.