1926
Fidel Castro is born August 13 in Mayari in what was then Cuba's Oriente Province to Angel Castro and Lina Ruz. Angel Castro is a wealthy landowner and sugar cane grower from Spain,

and Lina Ruz is a cook and maid to his first wife. The future Cuban leader's full name is Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz. Castro, second from right in this 1940 photo, is athletic as a youngster

and wins the prize for Cuba's best all-around school athlete.

1947
Castro participates in an unsuccessful rebellion in the Dominican Republic against Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo, seen in this portrait from the 1950s.

1948
Fidel Castro marries Mirta Diaz-Balart on October 12, and they have a son, Fidelito, in 1949. They will divorce in 1955. Castro has seven more children with three other women. Mistress

Dalia Soto del Valle, shown at left in 2003, bears sons Antonio, Alejandro, Angel, Alexis, Alex. Jorge Angel Castro is born in the 1950s to an unknown mistress, and daughter Alina

Fernandez Revuelta is born in the 1950s to Natalia Revuelta.

1950
Castro graduates from University of Havana with a doctorate in law and establishes a private law practice offering free legal advice to the poor.

1952
Castro runs for parliament, but elections are suspended after Gen. Fulgencio Batista, pictured, overthrows the Cuban government on March 10.

1953
On July 26, Castro leads 150 people in an attack against the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba with the goal of sparking an uprising against the Batista regime. Batista's

soldiers, seen here on the day of the assault, repel Castro's fighters. Castro is arrested and on October 16 is sentenced to 15 years in prison, but the event gains him fame in Cuba.

1955
On May 15, Castro and his brother Raul are released from prison as part of an amnesty for political prisoners. They go into exile and spend 1955-1956 in the United States and Mexico.

While in Mexico, they meet Argentine physician Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The three organize Cuban exiles into a new guerrilla group called the 26th of July Movement, which takes its name

from the failed 1953 attack.

1959
On January 1, Castro's guerrilla war against the unpopular Batista regime triumphs when the dictator flees the country after a number of successful attacks by Castro's fighters.
The United States recognizes the new government six days later, but the relationship sours after Cuba nationalizes factories and farms owned primarily by American companies

1960
Cuba and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations on May 8. In the face of U.S. hostility, Castro, seen here with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, quickly intensifies his

cooperation with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Cuba will receive support from the Soviet Union in the form of large subsidies. Relations with the United States begin to deteriorate and

a trade embargo is imposed on Cuba in October. The embargo remains in effect today.

1961
The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba on January 3. The situation reaches a crisis with the CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion, approved by new President John F.

Kennedy but planned during the Eisenhower administration. On April 17, about 1,300 Cuban exiles armed with U.S. weapons land at the Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) in an attempt to

overthrow Castro. Most are killed or captured after Kennedy cancels air support in the face of international condemnation. Fighters captured by Cuban forces are seen handcuffed in this

April 1961 photo. On May 1, Cuba is declared a socialist state, and Castro becomes the first socialist ruler in the Western Hemisphere.

1962
The Bay of Pigs fiasco contributes heavily to the Soviet decision to station nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis. On October 22, President Kennedy

announces that the Soviet Union has placed nuclear weapons in Cuba and that the United States will mount a strategic blockade of Cuba until the weapons are removed. The two

superpowers teeter on the brink of a nuclear war until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agrees to withdraw the missiles in return for the unpublicized removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey.
The Bay of Pigs survivors are released in December 1962 in exchange for $53 million in food and medicine.

1975
Talks to normalize relations with the United States are suspended after Cuba intervenes in the Angolan civil war. 

1977
President Jimmy Carter ends the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba on March 18.

1980
Castro opens the port of Mariel on April 21, allowing Cubans to leave the country and live elsewhere if they want.
By September 26, more than 125,000 Cubans - many of them frustrated with the nation's poor economy - take advantage of the opportunity. They pile into small boats and travel to Florida.

The refugees also included criminals and mentally ill people - some sent to the United States against their will.
The "Mariel boatlift" stopped after an agreement between Castro and U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

1982
President Reagan reinstates the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba on April 19.

1994
On August 19, President Bill Clinton announces an end to the U.S. "open door" policy on Cuban refugees established by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. From this point on, Cubans

intercepted at sea will be repatriated, but those who reach land will be allowed to stay. The decision was met with protests by anti-Castro Cubans.

1998
Castro welcomes Pope John Paul II on January 21 as the pontiff begins a historic five-day visit. The pope says the trip is pastoral, designed to strengthen the Catholic Church and faithful

in Cuba. John Paul says he has come to Cuba as "a pilgrim of love, of truth and of hope."

2000
On December 14-17, Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Castro in Cuba. They discuss trade issues and $20 million in debt Cuba incurred during the Soviet years.

2002
Former President Jimmy Carter visits Cuba on a five-day tour beginning May 12. On May 14, in a speech given in Cuba, Carter criticizes the Cuban government for denying basic freedoms

and endorses a referendum to improve human rights. The speech is broadcast live and uncensored on Cuban state television.

2006
Castro provisionally hands over power to his younger brother, Raul, while the elder undergoes intestinal surgery, according to a statement read July 31 on Cuban television. Raul Castro is

the first vice president of Cuba, and as such, the designated successor to his brother.