1926: Born in the eastern Cuban town of Biran on August 13.
1945: Matriculates at the University of Havana; law degree 1950.
1947: Participates in failed revolutionary mission in the Dominican Republic.
1948: Attends the Anti-Imperialist Student Council in Bogota; participated in the popular revolt known as the 'Bogotazo.'
1948: Marries Mirta Diaz-Balart; one son, Fidelito, in 1949; divorced in 1954.
1953: Leads failed assault on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, the first effort to topple Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship; condemned to 15 years in prison.
1955: Freed after amnesty, travelled to Mexico.
1956: Returns to Cuba aboard the yacht 'Granma,' disembarked on the island's eastern coast on December 2.
1956-1959: Leads the guerrilla fight to oust Batista
1959: Enters Havana in triumph on January 8; travelled to receptions in Venezuela, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
1961: Proclaims himself a Marxist-Leninist; rebuffs the Bay of Pigs invasion by the US.
1962: Accepts the withdrawal, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, of mid-range Soviet missiles stationed in the island.
1963: Visits the Soviet Union for the first time.
1986: Quits smoking his characteristic Cuban cigars.
1989: The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachov, travels to Havana. Castro orders the execution of general Arnoldo Ochoa, a hero of the revolution, and other high-ranking officials for drug trafficking.
1990: With Cold War ended, and with it, Soviet economic support, Castro decrees emergency economic programme. Changes country's motto from 'homeland or death' to 'socialism or death.'
1992: First visit to a West European country, to Spain.
1993: Allows some economic reforms, and limited US dollar holdings.
1996: Visits Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
1998: Receives Pope John Paul II in Havana; John Paul asks Castro to to open Cuba to the world.
2001: Faints in public during speech in Havana.
2003: Orders detention of over 70 dissidents, execution of three people who hijacked boat to escape.
2004: Falls in the town of Santa Clara, breaking a knee and injuring an arm. Used wheelchair.
2004: Forbids commercial use of US dollars.
2006: Temporarily delegates power to his brother, Raul, on July 31, during surgery for intestinal bleeding.
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