50 years since the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro waves to a cheering crowd upon his arrival after dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island, Jan. 1, 1959, in Havana, Cuba. (Bettmann/CORBIS)

President John F. Kennedy makes a national television speech about the naval blockade of Cuba, Oct. 22, 1962, from Washington. U.S. armed forces were ordered to DEFCON 3, the same level of readiness that followed the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. (AP Photo)