when did cinco de mayo became popular in the us
Cinco de Mayo A 2007 UCLA Newsroom article notes that, "the holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico."[30] TIME magazine reports that "Cinco de Mayo started to come into vogue in 1940s America during the rise of the Chicano Movement."[21] The holiday crossed over from California into the rest of the United States in the 1950s and 1960s but did not gain popularity until the 1980s when marketers, especially beer companies, capitalized on the celebratory nature of the day and began to promote it.[32][33] It grew in popularity and evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, first in areas with large Mexican-American populations, like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and San Jose.[34]
Cinco de Mayo Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French force and driving President JuÃ¡rez and his government into retreat.[11] Moving on from Veracruz towards Mexico City, the French army encountered heavy resistance from the Mexicans close to Puebla, at the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe.[12] The French army of 8,000 [13][14][note 1] attacked the poorly equipped Mexican army of 4,000.[15][note 2] On May 5, 1862,[16] the Mexicans decisively defeated the French army.[17][18][19] The victory represented a significant morale boost to the Mexican army and the Mexican people at large[20][21] and helped establish a sense of national unity and patriotism.[22]