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Birth
Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 to parents Angel Maria Castro and Lina Ruz Gonzalez. His Father was a wealthy sugar plantation owner from Spain. (Cox 31) -
T.V.
In 1927 the television was first displayed in San Francisco. The first ever television was first invented by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. (reference.com) -
Stock Market Collapse
In October of 1929 the American Stock Market crashed signalling the Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1939. (ohiohistorycentral.org) -
University of Havana
In 1942 Fidel Castro attended the University of Havana. Here his political career started. He made his first public speech and led revolts. At the University he became known in the political world and soon became Cuba's revolutionary. (Cox 40) -
Arrested
On July 26, 1953 Castro and 150 of his supporters attacked the military barracks of Moncada outside of Santiago de Cuba. This attempt failed and Castro was arrested and Tried. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released in 1955. (biography.com) -
Mexico
In 1955 after being released from prison Castro and his brother Raul traveled to Mexico Where they met up with Argentinian rebel Ernesto "Che" Guevara. They were able to further plan the revolution. (biography.com) -
Granma
On December 2, 1956, Castro returned to Cuba aboard the Granma. He and 80 insurgents and a cache of weapons landed near the eastern city of Manzanillo. Batista's men were able to capture or kill Castro's men. Castro, Raul, and Guevara were able to escape. (biography.com) -
Soviet Union Launches Sputnik
On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union, now known as Russia successfully launch Sputnik. (shmoop.com) -
Batista Flees
In early 1959, Batista fled to Dominican Republic. The loss of popular support and massive desertions in its military, Castro's efforts finally forced Batista to flee. Castro had successfully concluded his guerrilla campaign at the age of 32. (biography.com) -
First man in Space
On April 12, 1961 Russia put the first man in space. Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. He made a 108 minute flight in the Vostok 1 spacecraft. (timetoast.com) -
Declaration of Socialism and Bay of Pigs
On April 14, 1961 Castro formally declared Cuba a socialist state. Just three days later 1,400 Cuban exiles invaded the remote Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime. It was later revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.S.) had trained these exiles. Hundreds of insurgents were killed and 1,00 captured. Years later the National Security Archive revealed the U.S. had been planning to over throw Castro since 1959. (biography.com) -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962 Soviet defense missiles were being brought into Cuba unprecedentedly. U-2 planes reveal that during a tropical storm that there wasn't just defense missiles on Cuba but there had actually been military build up in Cuba despite the claims that there was not by the Soviet Union. During the tropical storms offensive weapons had been installed, many feared nuclear war but Soviet Union decided to withdraw the missiles. (Brubaker 45) -
Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech
On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King delivered a speech to a massive group of people at the capital building in Washington D.C. This speech was one of his most influential speeches of Martin Luther King's career. -
Man On the Moon
In July of 1969 Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon a the first man on the moon. He then said the famous quote "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (nasa.gov) -
Step Down From Power
In 2008 Fidel Castro stepped down as the leader of Cuba. His younger brother Raul Castro took over. (CNN.com) -
Death
On November 25, 2016 Fidel Castro died at the age of 90 years old. (CNN.com)