Sugar Skulls: History & Significance of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

I love it when a subject I am particularly interested in myself lends itself to being a great article topic. With Halloween and the Day of the Dead approaching, I wonder how many of you really understand the history and legends behind the popular iconic sugar skull? This is just part one of the article - learning the history of Dia de los Muertos, which is quite fascinating to see how it has survived much opposition as its continuation was threatened for many years. Despite its survival, it has also adapted to more modern belief systems and been altered in ways to make it more "acceptable" to Christians, although it was never a Christian holiday in the beginning. I hope you enjoy learning a little bit about this - I used to find history very dry and boring, so I try to present it in a light, interesting and abbreviated format.