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Jan 1, 1492
Discovered by Christopher Columbus
The island of Cuba was discovered on October 28, 1492 after the disembarked of La Pinta, La Niña and La Santa María. Between that date and November 5, the ships moved for the coast of the Orient of Cuba, and on November 2, Christopher Columbus, designated two of his finest men to go deep into in the Cuban territory. -
Jan 1, 1511
Colonized by the Spanish under the leadership of Diego de Velazquez
He founded a number of new Spanish settlements and cities on the island, first Baracoa in 1511 and then Santiago de Cuba in 1514 and Havana in 1515. -
Jan 1, 1526
Slaves were shipped from Africa
African slaves were kidnapped into Cuba and were forced to work in the gold mines. -
Treaty of Paris: Havana returned to Spain
News had reached Europe of the British capture of Havana, and with it the Spanish colony of Cuba. Spanish King Charles III refused to agree to a treaty that would require Spain to surrender Cuba, but the British Parliament would never approve a treaty that did not reflect British territorial gains made during the war. -
10 year independence war
Led by sugar planter Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, the Cuban Revolution began in 1868. Cespedes proclaimed independence and formed the Republic of Cuba on October 10, 1868. By 1869, Cespedes had written a constitution that abolished slavery and annexed the country to the United States. -
Slavery was abolished in Cuba by Spanish royal decree that also made an indentured servitude system illegal
On October 7, 1886, slavery was finally abolished in Cuba by a royal decree that also made the patronato illegal. The end of legal slavery, however, did not bring racial harmony to Cuba, and Spanish "thinkers" continued to warn against the potential "evils" of a racially mixed society. -
U.S declares war on Spain
The U.S won the war. -
Jose Miguel Gomez elected president, started off as a cuban general in the cuban war of independence
The US government puts Jose Miguel Gomez, the National Liberal leader, in power. -
Gerardo Machado establishes a dictatorship President of Cuba
Machado established a dictatorship which lasted until he was overthrown in 1933. -
Gerardo Machado overthrown in a coup led by sergeant Fulgencio Batista
This marked the beginning of the army's influence as an organized force in the running of the government. -
Fulgencio Batista takes power again
In an uprising known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants," Batista took over the Cuban government on September 4, 1933. The coup overthrew the liberal government of Gerardo Machado, and marked the beginning of the army's influence as an organized force in the running of the government. It also signaled Batista's emergence as self-appointed chief of the armed forces, king-maker and favored U.S. strong man. -
Fidel Castro leads unsuccessful revolution against Batista
In 1953, Castro and his brother Raúl led an unsuccessful uprising against Batista and Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released under an amnesty and fled to Mexico, where he was joined by an Argentine Marxist Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. -
Fidel Castro and Che Guevara lead the revolution
In December 1956, Castro attacked the Cuban Army in the east of the island. They were unsuccessful and the survivors fled inland to the relative safety of the Sierra Maestra. Here, Castro’s followers worked to help the peasants who lived in rural eastern Cuba. By taking this stance, Castro won over these people and his views began to spread out from the eastern enclave where he had his followers were. By 1958, Castro felt strong enough to launch a full-scale attack on Batista. It was so successf -
Fidel Castro leads the Communist revolution with Che Guevara and the rebel army overthrows President Fulgencio Batista
By January 1959, he had forced the Batista government to collapse. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic, and a 32-year-old Fidel Castro seized control of Cuba. -
Cuba openly aligns itself with the Soviet Union and their Communist policies
A Cuban Communist State was set up with Russian backing. Fidel Castro allows the USSR to deploy nuclear missiles on the island. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in october 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. -
Cuba becomes a member of the Soviet based Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
Cuba becomes a member of the Soviet Union's trade association, the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance. As many as ten thousand Soviet advisers are now in Cuba. Cuban economic and political institutions are increasingly modeled on those of the Soviet Union. Both Fidek and Raul Castro take the title "General." -
Fidel Castro elected president
Fidel Castro, leader of the Communist Party of Cuba, was in power, first as Prime Minister and then as President, from 1959 until 2008. Castro's brother Raul Castro offically retired on February 19, 2008, leaving his brother as the sole candidate for president. -
Collapse of USSR
On Christmas Day 1991, the Soviet flag flew over the Kremlin in Moscow for the last time. It was a peaceful end to a long, terrifying and sometimes bloddy epoch in world history. -
U.S trade embargo
The embargo consisted of economic sanctions against Cuba and restrictions on Cuban travel and commerce for all people and companies uder U.S/ jurisdiction.
