May 17, 1957: Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader, leads his men in a cheer in a scene from "Rebels of the Sierra Maestra," a special CBS news report. The exculsive filmed report of life with Castro was recorded by CBS newsman Robert Taber and cameraman Wendell Hoffman.
Jan. 8, 1959: Fidel Castro speaks to supporters at the Batista military base "Columbia," now known as Ciudad Libertad, in Cuba. The Cuban revolution triumphed on Jan. 1, 1959, after dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country and Fidel Castro and his band of rebels descended from the island's eastern mountains, where they had waged a guerrilla war against government troops. The United States soon recognized the new government, but two years later broke off relations with Cuba and closed its embassy.
Sept. 20, 1960: Cuba's Prime Minister Fidel Castro and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev embrace at the UN General Assembly, at the United Nations Building in New York.
Jan. 3, 1961: Cubans crowd outside the U.S. embassy in Havana in hopes of getting visas after President Fidel Castro ordered the U.S. embassy to reduce its staff to 12 officials within 48 hours. The U.S. broke relations with Cuba on this day, and closed its embassy.
Oct. 29, 1962: President John F. Kennedy poses in his White House office with Gen. David Shoup, left, Marine Corps Commandant, and Adm. George Anderson, Chief of U.S. Naval Operations. The chiefs met with the president to review the situation in Cuba and operation of the U.S. naval blockade.
March 9, 1977: President Jimmy Carter is surrounded by journalists after a news conference where he announced the lifting of a travel ban on Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and Cambodia. Carter tried to normalize relations with Cuba shortly after taking office in 1977, re-establishing diplomatic missions and negotiating the release of thousands of prisoners. But conflicts over Cuba's military mission in Africa, tension caused by a flood of Cuban refugees in 1980 and the election of Ronald Reagan end the rapprochement.
April 30, 1980: A shrimp boat returning from Mariel, Cuba, is packed with Cuban refugees as it lands at Florida's Key West Naval Base. President Jimmy Carter said in May 1980 that Cubans leaving the port of Mariel would be welcomed in the United States with "open hearts and open arms." That was after Castro opened the port in April 1980 to anyone who wanted to go. A few weeks later, Carter ordered the "freedom flotilla" stopped as America was overwhelmed by an average of 1,000 new arrivals daily.
April 22, 2000: Elian Gonzalez is held in a closet by Donato Dalrymple, one of the two men who rescued the boy from the ocean, as government officials search the home of Lazaro Gonzalez for the young boy in Miami. U.S.-based relatives fought to keep Gonzalez, rescued at sea at age 5 after his mother died, but U.S. officials finally sent him back to his father in Cuba.
July 31, 2004: President Fidel Castro, left, and his brother, Minister of Defense Raul Castro, attend a Parliament session in Havana. The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union devastated the Cuban economy, but the country limped along, first under Fidel and then, after he fell ill in 2006, under Raul.
July 26, 2007: A man walks with his dog past a Cuban flag hanging in a street in Old Havana. During a ceremony marking the 54th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, acting President Raul Castro signaled that he was willing to talk with a new U.S. administration after President George W. Bush left office.
May 1, 2011: Cuban soldiers bearing their national flag march in the May Day parade at Revolution Square in Havana, in a massive show of support for economic changes approved by the Communist Party.
July 25, 2012: Cubans pose for a picture on a sidewalk in Guantanamo, Cuba, on the eve of the country's Revolution Day. Revolution Day marks the rebel attack led by Fidel and Raul Castro on the Moncada military barracks on July 26, 1953. The attack is considered the beginning of the revolution that culminated with dictator Fulgencio Batista's ouster.
Oct. 13, 2012: A soldier looks at the outer casing of an old, empty Soviet missile on exhibit as he works to paint it at the military complex Morro Cabana in Havana. The world stood at the brink of Armageddon for 13 days in October 1962 when President John F. Kennedy drew a symbolic line in the Atlantic and warned of dire consequences if Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev dared to cross it.
Dec. 17, 2014: Students in Havana watch a nationally broadcast speech by Cuba's President Raul Castro about the country's restoration of relations with the United States. Castro said profound differences remain between Cuba and the U.S. in areas such as human rights, foreign policy and questions of sovereignty, but the countries have to learn to live with their differences "in a civilized manner."
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