Take Me To Post Comment Form Folks planning to recognize our neighbors south of the border need to know that Mexico's national holiday is Sept. 16. That is the anniversary of the day in 1810 when Father Hidalgo called on his countrymen to revolt against Spanish rule. And the people of Mexico forced the occupying soldiers to leave their country.

You were expecting to hear about Cinco de Mayo? Okay: May 5 is celebrated as the anniversary of the battle of Puebla in 1862 when Mexican revolutionaries defeated French troops who had been called in by the government to help stabilize the country. The foreign intervention didn't work and the revolutionaries came to power.