Tres Plus Dos Equals Cinco de Mayo

On this day:
1821
Emperor Napoleon I dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
1961
The Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, making a sub-orbital flight of 15 minutes.

***

What is the "Global Engagement Center?"

***

Every horse in the Kentucky Derby is a descendant of Secretariat.

***

QB Kenny Pickett's fifth-year option has been declined by the Browns on Thursday's deadline, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.

***

Tres Plus Dos Equals Cinco de Mayo

The painting, often identified as commemorating Cinco de Mayo in Mexico, actually depicts the Spanish War with Napoleon's France two generations before the French War in Mexico. Nor is the event of Cinco de Mayo of much political significance--other than ironic--although it was a shocking military one.

Goya sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of 1808 in the Peninsular War, a savage affair fought by Spanish partisans against hard, regular French troops. This famous painting was The Third of May (along with its companion piece, The Second of May 1808 or The Charge of the Mamelukes.)

Third of May:



A half-century later, in 1862, Spain's creditors ran out of patience with her debts. France, eager to expand its territory and following the long-accepted custom of seizing a reluctant debtor's ports and collecting tax receipts in lieu of their loan, invaded the Mexican port of Veracruz, intending to collect customs receipts until the debt was repaid. They also had another aim: they hoped to make their stay permanent by placing Maximilian on a Mexican throne. The French marched inland. This was an experienced, tough group, and they proceeded virtually unopposed until confronted by a sizable Mexican force in the small town of Puebla. There, against all expectation and logic, on 5 May 1862, Mexican troops, led by Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated a larger force of the elite French Foreign Legion. Mexican President Benito Juarez declared 5 May a national holiday -- Cinco de Mayo -- although he certainly knew the truth. The French replaced their commander and sent thirty thousand reinforcements. In no time, they controlled the cities and orchestrated the election that made Maximilian Emperor of México.