After four centuries of Spanish colonial rule, Cubans win their independence, but U.S. intervention at the eleventh hour comes with a price.

min . 2015-12-11

Cuba flourishes thanks to sugar production, but relations with the U.S. deteriorate, leading to the rise of military strongman Fulgencio Batista.

min . 2015-12-11

A source of illegal rum during Prohibition, Cuba becomes a haven for the Mafia, which seizes control of the country's popular gambling industry.

min . 2015-12-11

On New Year's Day 1959, rebel guerillas led by the Castro brothers and Che Guevara succeed in toppling the corrupt, dictatorial rule of Batista.

min . 2015-12-11

Heroes of the revolution include the Castros, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos, but Fidel Castro's brutality and radical leftist reforms divide them.

min . 2016-03-11

When Fidel Castro expropriates U.S. businesses and pursues support from the Soviet Union, the CIA sends assassins, saboteurs and invaders to Cuba.

min . 2016-03-11

Challenges mount in the '80s as Cubans desert their restrictive homeland, cocaine infiltrates the government, and European socialism collapses.

min . 2016-03-11

In the post-Soviet world, the Castros find mutual support in Venezuela, but the Cold War's conclusion brings the country's isolationism to an end.

min . 2016-03-11