End of an era in revolution

The illegitimate son of a successful sugar cane farmer, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born Aug. 13, 1926. Castro was a clever but reckless child, and his behavior earned him the nickname “El Loco” - the crazy one.

Fidel Castro led Cuba for five decades and was the world's third longest-serving head of state, after Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the King of Thailand. Despite the plots, a U.S.backed exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs and five decades of economic sanctions, Castro outlasted nine U.S. presidents, stepping down while George W. Bush was in office.

Castro holds the record for the longest speech ever delivered to the United Nations: 4 hours and 29 minutes, on Sept. 26, 1960, according to the U.N. website.

Castro claimed he survived 634 attempts or plots to assassinate him, mainly masterminded by the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S.-based exile organizations. Another alleged plan involved giving him powder that would make his beard fall out and so undermine his popularity.

In his last years, Castro wrote hundreds of columns for the official media. Stooped and walking with difficulty, Castro was last seen in public on Jan. 8, 2014, though photos of visiting dignitaries at the Castro home appeared after that.

Castro used to chomp on Cuban cigars but gave them up in 1985. Years later he summed up the harm of smoking tobacco by saying: "The best thing you can do with this box of cigars is give them to your enemy."