Key Events: Fidel Castro

DATE	BRIEF DESCRIPTION

1927	Born Fidel Castro Ruz, on August 13, in Oriente province, eastern Cuba, the son of a Spanish immigrant sugar planter.
c. 1933	Attends Roman Catholic boarding schools and Jesuit boarding school in Santiago and Havana.
1947	Joins Cuban People's Party.
1950	Receives law degree from University of Havana.
1952	Stands as People's Party candidate, but elections cancelled when General Batista seizes control.
1953	Leads underground resistance to Batista's dictatatorship. Leads failed uprising in Santiago de Cuba and is imprisoned.
1955	Released from prison, and goes to Mexico.
1956	Returns to Cuba with a small force, which includes his brother Raúl and Ernesto (Che) Guevara.
1958	Marches on Havana and proclaims Cuban Revolution. Batista flees in December.
1959	Declares himself prime minister.
1959-1960	Nationalizes US interests in Cuba.
1961	US-backed Bay of Pigs landing by Cuban exiles fails.
1962	Soviet missiles based in Cuba lead to heightened international tensions.
1976	Becomes President of Council of State and Council of Ministers.
1990	Serious economic problems follow collapse of Communism in Europe.
1993	Approves limited economic reform.
1994	Mass exodus of emigrants from Cuba. Sugar production opens to foreign investment.
1996	Has audience with Pope John Paul in Rome.
1998	Restores Christmas as a public holiday.
1999	Encourages Cuban nationalist sentiment over Elian Gonzales affair.
2006	Undergoes an operation for intestinal bleeding and 'temporarily' cedes power to his brother Raúl.
2008	Officially stands down as President of Cuba.