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Today in History: The Bay of Pigs

Today is the 45^th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. On April 17, 1961, around 1,300 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs hoping to launch a counter-revolution with CIA backing and US arms. However, the goal of finding support from the local popluation failed, and as a result, the invasion itself failed.

As the BBC reported it at the time:

Reports from Cuba say the island has been invaded by counter-revolutionary forces trying to overthrow the country's leader, Fidel Castro.

The only news coming out of Cuba is broadcast by the government-run radio station. All other communications with the island have been cut.

For more information, visit the Bay of Pigs at the National Security Archive, part of George Washington University and also the CIA's Freedom of Information Act documents relating to the Bay of Pigs. Also, Wikipedia has information on the Bay of Pigs invasion as well.

— michael | April 17, 2006 02:08 PM | I found it online