April 17, 1961
The Bay of Pigs invasion began when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees landed in Cuba and attempted to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was a failure; nearly 1,200 of the 1,500 attackers were taken prisoner. Castro used the attack to solidify his power in Cuba; he also requested additional Soviet military aid that aid included missiles and the construction of missile bases in Cuba, which sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.
