Fidel Castro first launched the Cuban revolution on a small yacht

Meet Fidel Castro, the defining figure of the Cuban Revolution

Born into wealth, Fidel Castro launched his first revolt against Batista at the age of 27. His failed 1953 uprising—and the trial where he declared, “History will absolve me”—marked the beginning of a decades-long political life, as traced in this photo-rich timeline.

See a timeline of the Cuban Revolution

A small rebel force toppled Batista through a series of unlikely breaks, including a decisive 1958 ambush in which Castro’s fighters seized an arms train bound for Santa Clara. This timeline charts the revolution’s causes, key turning points, and enduring legacy.

The Cuban Revolution explained

Between 1953 and 1959, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara led a small guerrilla movement that toppled Cuba’s Batista dictatorship and created the Western Hemisphere’s first socialist state—reshaping Cuban society and permanently transforming US–Cuba relations.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Fidel Castro

From exploding cigars and poisoned Cohibas to an infected scuba suit and plans to drug a TV studio with LSD, this account catalogs the CIA's strangest—and consistently unsuccessful—attempts to kill Fidel Castro over decades.

Pre-revolution Cuba was prosperous—and deeply unequal

On the eve of Castro’s 1959 revolution, Cuba ranked among Latin America’s most advanced societies, with high incomes and health outcomes. Yet stark racial, rural, and political inequalities—compounded by corruption and US intervention—made the system weak and primed for revolt.

Since the revolution, approximately 1.4 million Cubans have fled to the US

Although Castro initially enjoyed broad support after toppling Batista in 1959, nearly 2 million Cubans chose exile in the years that followed. Most settled in the US, while others dispersed across Latin America and Europe, shaping migration patterns that persist to this day

Hear about the US role in the Cuban Revolution—and the blowback it caused

Against long odds, Fidel Castro launched a socialist revolution just 90 miles from the US and kept it alive for decades. This 10-part podcast traces Washington’s pivot from early support to an obsessive campaign of sabotage and hundreds of alleged assassination plots.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

US–Cuba contentious relations began long before the Cold War

Long before the revolution and missile crisis, US involvement in Cuba stretched back over 150 years—rooted in slavery, sugar, and shifting imperial ambitions. This short video traces how cycles of intervention and neglect shaped the island’s modern history.

A secret airlift sent 14,000 Cuban children to the US

As part of the covert Operation Pedro Pan, roughly 14,000 Cuban children were quietly flown to the US in the early 1960s—often with no warning, no luggage, and no certainty they would ever see their parents again.

Establishing an independent Haiti: a timeline

This map and timeline shows the history of the Caribbean Island nation of Haiti and its fight for independence. In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue and crashed one of his ships, the Santa Maria, along reefs near the island nation...

The Lunar New Year was widely celebrated until Mao Zedong and the Communist Party

In the 1960s, Mao ushered in the Cultural Revolution, an attempt to make China a more modern, industrialized nation. In keeping with this, he banned traditional holiday customs in favor of “revolutionary” actions like chanting Communist Party slogans and engaging in a “self-criticism” ceremony. These changes weren’t very popular and were quickly reversed after Mao’s death.

Spartacus led a 70,000-strong slave army that defeated Roman forces

After escaping a gladiator school in Capua, Spartacus led the largest slave revolt in Roman history, routing Roman armies before being crushed by forces under the command of Crassus and Pompey. Later generations recast him as a symbol of resistance.

Watch President John F. Kennedy's speech on going to the moon

On Sept. 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy set forth this argument for the effort to land humans on the moon’s surface, casting the Apollo mission in terms of historic human ambitions.

Revolutionary War reenactments have taken place for centuries

The first known reenactment of the war occurred in 1778, while the war was still ongoing. A journal entry from a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army remarked that soldiers had commemorated a “Glorious victory obtained over the British” at Saratoga with “a Grand sham fight.”

The USSR launched the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space in 1957

Sputnik, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, became the world's first artificial satellite. While the technology itself was limited, the launch ignited the space race and signaled that intercontinental missiles and space technology had arrived faster than American leaders expected.

The impact of FC Barcelona on Catalan pride

FC Barcelona is one of the most decorated soccer clubs in the world and has also become a source of Catalan pride. It all started in 1899 with a Swiss-German accountant and journalist, a newspaper advertisement, and 11 talented soccer players. Read this article to learn about the team’s humble beginnings and how its history overlaps with the Catalan resistance to Spanish rule.

The 1956 Suez crisis was one of the earliest tests of the rules-based order

When Britain, France, and Israel secretly invaded Egypt, the Eisenhower administration supported UN resolutions condemning the invasion and called for a ceasefire—publicly criticizing its closest allies to uphold the principle that force should not be used to resolve international disputes.

A pod of orcas takes down a yacht

The pod rammed the boat’s rudder for about 45 minutes. Authorities were able to get crew members to land safely, but their yacht was irreparably damaged. Check out the story and photos here.

Iranians voted overwhelmingly to establish an Islamic Republic in March 1979

Just weeks after Khomeini's return, Iran held a national referendum to replace the monarchy with an Islamic Republic, and over 98% voted in favor (though the vote was criticized). The vote formalized the revolution's outcome, laying the foundation for a theocratic government that remains in place today.

Francis Drake: favored English pirate who sailed around the world

Before becoming the global explorer that many know him as today, Sir Francis Drake was a pirate, merchant, and slave trader. This in-depth article dives into the life of Drake, who's commonly credited as the first person to circumnavigate the globe by ship successfully.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

The Watergate scandal took 2 years to unfold

Beginning with the June 17, 1972, break-in, the scandal progressed through Senate hearings in 1973 and the explosive revelation of Oval Office tapes, and culminated in Nixon's resignation by August 1974.

Seven of South Korea's presidents have left office before their term ended

Recently removed President Yoon Suk Yeol isn’t the first South Korean leader to face turmoil at home. As this Voice of America piece shows, at least seven of the country’s 20th-century heads of state saw their political careers (and, in some cases, their lives) come to an abrupt and sometimes violent end.

Spanish colonists celebrated alongside the Seloy tribe in Florida in 1565

Long before the 1621 meal between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish la Florida. They celebrated the founding with a Mass of Thanksgiving with the Indigenous Seloy tribe.

In 2022, a piece of Challenger was discovered on the ocean floor

While searching for World War II wreckage near Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a documentary, divers discovered debris on the seafloor that NASA later confirmed to be a piece of Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. The piece is at least 15-by-15 feet in size and partially buried under sand.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

The Lewis and Clark expedition lasted over two years

The Corps of Discovery departed St. Louis in May 1804 and returned in September 1806, covering more than 8,000 miles by boat, horseback, and on foot. See a timeline of the journey’s key events.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.