Cuba timeline

January 1959: Cuban Revolution begins. Dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Havana. Eight days later, Fidel Castro and rebels overtake the capital.

Oct. 19, 1960: U.S. imposes Cuban embargo.

April 17, 1961: Bay of Pigs invasion. U.S. attempt to overthrow the Castro government is thwarted by the Cuban military.

Dec. 2, 1961: Castro declares himself a Marxist. The CIA plots assassination attempts, including the use of exploding cigars.

February 1962: President John F. Kennedy orders a broader trade embargo, halting U.S. imports of Cuban goods.

October 1962: Cuban missile crisis, a 13-day standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. After a U.S. blockade, the missiles were withdrawn.

Nov. 2, 1966: Congress grants preferential treatment to Cuban immigrants, expediting their paths to citizenship.

April-October, 1980: In a mass emigration called the Mariel boatlift, more than 120,000 Cubans made their way to the U.S.

Jan. 1, 1989: The fall of the Soviet Union results in the collapse of the Cuban economy.

March 6, 1996: U.S. law extends the U.S. embargo against Cuba and imposes tougher restrictions on trade with Cuba.

May 2002: Former president Jimmy Carter visits Cuba, meets with Castro and leading dissidents.

Feb. 19, 2008: Fidel Castro resigns and transfers power to his brother, Raul.