#smithsonian national museum of american history

Happy Cinco de Mayo! (It’s not Mexico’s Independence Day.)

Cinco de Mayo actually celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla May 5, 1862.

Thisportrait from our collection is of Mexican President Benito Juarez. After reclaiming the presidency post-French invasion, he declared that May 5—the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla—would be a national holiday.

The first Cinco de Mayo celebrations didn’t include margaritas, because they weren’t invented until the 1940s. By the 1970s, the margarita surpassed the martini as the most popular American cocktail.

This is the first frozen margarita machine, invented at a restaurant owned by Mariano Martinez. When blenders couldn’t keep up with the high demand for margs, he found inspiration in the 7-Eleven Slurpee machine. The original retired when Martinez’ restaurant moved 34 years later, and now it’s in our National Museum of American History.