TIMELINE: Key events in Fidel Castro's life

(Reuters) - The following are key events in the political life of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who retired on Tuesday after almost half a century at Cuba's helm.

August 13, 1926 - Fidel Castro Ruz born in eastern Cuban hamlet of Biran, son of a well-off Spanish-born landowner.

July 26, 1953 - Castro leads armed uprising against military dictator Fulgencio Batista, captured in failed attack on Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba.

May, 1955 - Castro, who stated "History will absolve me" at his trial, is given amnesty and leaves prison for Mexico.

December 2, 1956 - Castro and 81 other would-be revolutionaries land in Cuba on the yacht "Granma.". Most are routed, but 12 survivors -- including Castro, his brother Raul Castro and Argentine Ernesto "Che" Guevara -- regroup in Sierra Maestra mountains where they launch a guerrilla war.

January 1, 1959 - Batista flees to Dominican Republic.

January 8, 1959 - Castro enters Havana after triumphal journey across Cuba. As supreme "Comandante" of the armed forces, he begins the political, economic and social transformation of Cuba, launching agrarian reform and nationalizing most foreign and local businesses.

Feb 13, 1959 - Castro named prime minister.

January 3, 1961 - U.S. breaks diplomatic ties with Havana.

April 16, 1961 - Castro declares his revolution socialist.

April 19, 1961 - Castro directs troops in defeat of invasion attempt by U.S.-backed Cuban exiles at Bay of Pigs.

February 7, 1962 - United States imposes full economic embargo.

October 1962 - Missile Crisis. Presence of Soviet warheads in Cuba provokes standoff between Moscow and Washington. Many fear nuclear war, but Soviet Union decides to withdraw missiles after President John F. Kennedy imposes naval blockade.

October 1965 - Castro founds new Cuban Communist Party and is named First Secretary.

1971-80 - Castro visits Chile, Panama and Nicaragua to support left-wing governments there.

1975 - Castro sends troops to Angola to help left-wing government fight South-African backed rebels.