The most Mexican of all the Mexican holidays is upon us and no, I'm not talking about 5 de Mayo folks, I'm talking about the actual Mexican Independence Day. Celebrated on Sept. 16, the holiday is not only about celebrating the separation of Mexico from Spain, but also celebrating our own culture, made completely from different ethnicities and customs. But, how did it all go down? Let me tell you this fascinating story.

On the dawn of Sept. 16, 1980, priest Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, called upon the Mexican people in Dolores, Guanajuato to raise in arms against the Spanish Crown to liberate Mexico (known as New Spain back then) from their ruling. Hidalgo is remembered as one of Mexico's Founding Fathers for this, but also as the start of a bloody and violent war that lasted 11 years, ending on Sept. 27, 1821. After that, the long road to recovery began. To celebrate this holiday, we bring you some interesting facts that will help you get the conversation going during this month.

1. The celebration is actually lasts two days.

The Mexican Independence celebration actually starts on the night of September 15th. This is done to commemorate the night Don Miguel Hidalgo rang the bells of his church to start gathering the people to build the army that would help Mexico get their freedom. Every night of September 15, the President will go out to the balcony of the Presidential Palace in Mexico City to ring the bells and start the fireworks. An exception was in 2006, when President Vicente Fox took the ceremony back to Dolores, mostly due to possible protest in Mexico City stemming from controversies in the 2006 General Election.

2. Mexican Independence Day is also celebrated in the U.S.

The ever growing Mexican-American community in the United Stated doesn't forget their roots, so the celebrations has gained popularity in America, specially in cities like San Diego, Los Angeles and Houston.

3. The rebellion was supposed to start on October 2nd.

The war for Mexico's independence was not supposed to happen until Oct. 2 of 1810, but the conspiracy to overthrow the Spanish Crown was discovered, so they had to start a little earlier with what they had on hand. They were underprepared, but still managed to pull it off eventually, although Dolores himself would not survive the war long, having died just four months after it began.

4. Cinco de Mayo is a completely different celebration.

Yes, we have addressed this in different occasions, but people still get this other holiday confused with Independence Day. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. In recent times, specifically in the United States, the date has become associated with the celebration of Mexican-American culture. In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades in Puebla and some cities, but there are no major holidays or anything of the sort. So, now you know the difference.

5. Even after it's Independence, Mexico struggled with Emperors for years.

It was only after 1823 when Mexico became a republic for the first time. Right after independence, it was (briefly) ruled by Emperor Agustín the First. That was the first time after Mexico became free that we had an emperor, the second being after the French invasion of 1863 that resulted in Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria being proclaimed Mexico's Second Emperor. He lasted only three years before deposed President Benito Juarez and his army retook power and established the Mexican Republic once more.

So there you have it, now you can go and celebrate Mexico's independence knowing all the facts and also look kinda nerdy, but kinda cool at the same time.

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Didn't like the article? You can tell Jorge Guevara directly on his Twitter account @Jorgepilgrim. Jorge is born in raised in Tijuana, a beer and food fanatic and also a professional movie critic.