Fulgencio Batista, the U.S.-backed president and dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces during the Cuban Revolution. Batista had himself been involved in two coups, in 1933 and 1952, and after the second takeover quickly established a cozy relationship with American organized crime interests. After his ouster by Castro he spent his later years in Spain, where he died of a heart attack August 6, 1973.