- guardian.co.uk, Sunday July 29 2001 02.03 BST
July 26 1953: Castro launches armed struggle against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. But attack on Moncada Barracks fails.
Sept 1953: Castro is sentenced to fifteen years, making famous 'history will absolve me' speech from the dock.
May 1955: Batista grants amnesty to Castro, who goes to Mexico to plot invasion of Cuba.
Dec 2 1956: Castro and 82 other rebels land at Playa Las Coloradas in Granma yacht. Cuban army easily outnumbers and rout rebels, but survivors take refuge in Sierra Maestra mountains and launch guerrilla war.
Dec 28 1958: Fall of Santa Clara, after rebel attack led by Che Guevara. Batista troops end military resistance.
Jan 1 1959: Batista flees to Dominican Republic as the rebels take power.
Castro's men pour into Havana
Angry young Cubans take over
Jan 8 1959: Castro enters Havana following triumphant procession through island from east of Cuba. Fidel Castro: 1959 profile
Oct 19 1960: United States begins partial economic embargo.
Jan 3 1961: Washington breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba.
April 16 1961: Castro declares Cuba a socialist state.
April 19 1961: Bay of Pigs invasion. CIA-backed Cuban exiles are defeated.
Feb 7 1962: United States imposes full trade embargo on Cuba.
Oct 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis. After thirteen day stand-off, Russians withdraw missiles from Cuba.
Observer leader: a chance to save the world
Oct 9 1967: Che Guevara killed by Bolivian troops seeking to emulate Cuban- style revolution in South America.
Sept 1 1977: Resumption of limited economic ties between Cuba and United States.
Apr-Sept 1980: 'Mariel Boatlift'. Cuba allows mass exodus of about 125,000 citizens to the United States, many leaving from the Mariel port west of Havana.
Aug 14 1993: Havana ends ban on use of dollars.
Aug 1994: Raft Crisis. More than 30,000 Cubans flee island on flimsy boats, many perishing in shark-infested waters between Cuba and Florida. Washington and Havana sign migration agreement to stem exodus and allow minimum of 20,000 legal entry visas per year for Cubans.
March 12 1996: The Helms- Burton law - allowing the United States to penalise foreign companies investing in Cuba - is signed into law by President Clinton.
Jan. 21-25 1998: Visit of Pope John Paul II, who condemns the US embargo and calls for greater freedom on the island.
Jan 1 1999: Castro celebrates 40 years in power.
Nov 1999 - April 2000: Elian Gonzalez affair dominates Cuba-US relations. Elian is eventually returned to his father in Havana.
Rafael Garcia-Navarro on the Elian affair
Ed Vulliamy: A conflict that belongs to history
Elian seized at gun-point
June 25 2001: Castro has to be helped off stage after near collapse at open-air rally outside Havana
July 27 2001: Castro leads crowd, estimated at 1.2 million, in parade to celebrate the Cuban revolution and demonstrate against the US blockade. Castro prepares to celebrate 75th birthday in August.
