Cuban Revolution causes 200,000 Cubans to flee to the U.S.

Fulgancio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Communist Cuban Revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Over 200,000 anti-Communist Cubans and Western business owners flee to the U.S. to avoid prosecution by revolutionary courts and are welcomed as political refugees. A year later the Castro regime nationalizes all foreign-owned property, and in response, the U.S. freezes all Cuban assets, severs diplomatic ties, and issues an embargo on Cuba. In 1966, Congress passes the Cuban American Adjustment Act allowing Cubans who have been in the U.S. for over a year to receive permanent residency. No other immigrant group has been offered this privilege before, or since.