Cinco de Mayo: What Are We Celebrating?

Obviously it's May 5, but unlike yesterday (Star Wars Day) today is an actual holiday in Mexico. But what does the holiday celebrate?

It is NOT -- as is commonly believed -- Mexico's version of our 4th Of July. It is NOT their Independence Day (that is September 16).

May 5 is a day of great pride in Mexico, as it is called "El Día de la Batalla de Puebla" ("The Day of the Battle of Puebla"). On May 5, 1862 an undermanned Mexican army defeated a much more powerful French army that had invaded Mexico a year earlier over debts and an attempt to set up a colony in Latin America.

It is not an official national holiday, but it is in the Mexican states of Puebla and Veracruz (yes, Mexico is divided up into states like the U.S. is), and kids get the day off from school throughout the entire country.

It was first celebrated in the U.S. in the 1860s in California (which used to be part of Mexico), and it is now celebrated around the world, particularly with events held in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.