Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration held on May 5 to celebrate Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. Zaragoza died months after the battle from an illness, however, and a larger French force ultimately defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla and then occupied Mexico City.
More popular in the United States than in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo has become associated with the celebration of Mexican-American culture.