<P> The Battle of Puebla was significant, both nationally and internationally, for several reasons . First, although considerably outnumbered, the Mexicans defeated a much - better - equipped French army . "This battle was significant in that the 4,000 Mexican soldiers were greatly outnumbered by the well - equipped French army of 8,000 that had not been defeated for almost 50 years ." Second, since the Battle of Puebla, some have argued that no country in the Americas has subsequently been invaded by any other European military force . Historian Justo Sierra has written in his Political Evolution of the Mexican People that, had Mexico not defeated the French in Puebla on May 5, 1862, France would have gone to the aid of the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War and the United States' destiny would have been different . </P> <P> According to a paper published by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture about the origin of the observance of Cinco de Mayo in the United States, the modern American focus on that day first started in California in 1863 in response to the resistance to French rule in Mexico . "Far up in the gold country town of Columbia (now Columbia State Park) Mexican miners were so overjoyed at the news that they spontaneously fired off rifle shots and fireworks, sang patriotic songs and made impromptu speeches ." </P> <P> A 2007 UCLA Newsroom article notes that, "the holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico ." TIME magazine reports that "Cinco de Mayo started to come into vogue in 1940s America during the rise of the Chicano Movement ." 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 . 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 . </P> <P> In a 1998 study in the Journal of American Culture it was reported that there were more than 120 official US celebrations of Cinco de Mayo in 21 different states . An update in 2006 found that the number of official Cinco de Mayo events was 150 or more, according to José Alamillo, a professor of ethnic studies at Washington State University in Pullman, who has studied the cultural impact of Cinco de Mayo north of the border . Los Angeles' Fiesta Broadway has been billed as the largest Cinco de Mayo celebration in the world, which it most certainly was at its peak in the 1990s when it attracted crowds of 500,000 or more . In recent years attendance has seen a dramatic decrease . </P>

When did cinco de mayo became a holiday in the us
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