José Antonio Echeverría is killed

Rebel forces ambushed an army patrol, showing that the Sierra Maestra guerrilla nucleus had survived.

The New York Times correspondent met Castro in the Sierra Maestra, contradicting government claims that the rebel leader was dead.

Publication gave the guerrilla movement international visibility and weakened Batista’s information campaign.

Students attempted to kill Batista and spark a national uprising. The assault failed after fierce fighting in Havana.

José Antonio Echeverría seized the station and announced that Batista had fallen, but the broadcast was cut off before completion.

Women in the Revolutionary Directorate transported messages, sheltered activists and sustained clandestine work around the Havana action.

The radio action aimed to broadcast the fall of Batista and call the population into the streets while the palace assault proceeded.

The assault exposed the willingness of urban revolutionaries to challenge the dictatorship at its centre, despite severe losses.

Police located and killed four Revolutionary Directorate survivors in a Havana apartment, deepening anger against Batista’s security forces.

Information provided to Batista’s police led them to four student revolutionaries hiding in Havana.