CAM: Key dates during 50 years of Cuban revolution
21 Dec 2008 2:06 PM
Key moments in Cuba's past 50 years:
Jan 1, 1959 - Fidel Castro's rebels take power as dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba.
June 1960 - Cuba nationalises US-owned oil refineries after they refuse to process Soviet oil. Nearly all other US businesses expropriated by October.
October 1960 - Washington bans exports to Cuba, other than food and medicine.
Jan 3, 1961 - US government breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba.
April 16, 1961 - Castro declares Cuba socialist state.
April 17, 1961 - CIA-backed Cuban exiles stage failed invasion at Bay of Pigs.
Feb, 7, 1962 - Washington bans all Cuban imports.
October 1962 - US blockade forces removal of Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba. US President John F Kennedy agrees privately not to invade Cuba.
March 1968 - Castro's government takes over almost all private businesses.
April 1980 - Mariel boatlift: Cuba says anyone can leave; some 125,000 Cubans flee.
December 1991 - Collapse of Soviet Union devastates Cuban economy.
August 1994 - Castro declares he will not stop Cubans trying to leave; some 40,000 take to sea heading for United States.
March 18, 2003 - 75 Cuban dissidents sentenced to prison.
July 31, 2006 - Five days after his last public appearance, Castro announces he has had operation, temporarily cedes power to brother Raul.
Feb 19, 2008 - Castro resigns as president.
Feb 24, 2008 - Cuban parliament elects Raul Castro as president.
