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 nationalizes U.S.-owned oil refineries after they refuse to process Soviet oil. Nearly all other U.S. businesses expropriated by October.
October 1960 - Washington bans exports to Cuba, other than food and medicine.
Jan. 3, 1961 - U.S. 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 - U.S. blockade forces removal of Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba. U.S. 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.
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