April 17, 1961 - U.S. launches failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba
It wasn't the United States' finest hour. A CIA-sponsored group of about 1,400 Cuban exiles - many recruited and trained in Florida - landed on Cuba to try to spark an uprising of Cuban citizens to overthrow socialist leader Fidel Castro. The U.S., under President John F. Kennedy, failed to provide the military troops and air support necessary to defeat Castro's troops, and the ragtag group of exiles were defeated in three days. More than 1,200 were captured and publicly humiliated by Castro before most were sent back to the U.S. Castro turned openly to the Soviet Union, America's Cold War enemy, for military support. Kennedy was ridiculed as indecisive and weak. And the U.S. and Cuba continued its Cold War, which continues to this day, more than 20 years after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Read the story in the St. Petersburg Times: Cuba Invaded! Battle Rages; Rebel Forces Take Beachheads • Read about the Bay of Pigs invasion in History.com