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Events on Thursday 8 January 1959 2
1959Cuban Revolution triumphsBatista flees, Castro's rebels seize powerFulgencio Batista fled Cuba as Fidel Castro's rebel forces advanced on Havana. Castro's 26th of July Movement took control of the government within days, ending Batista's dictatorship. The revolution set Cuba on a path toward a Marxist-Leninist state allied with the Soviet Union.
1959Charles de Gaulle inaugurated President of FranceFifth French Republic beginsCharles de Gaulle was sworn in as the first President of France's Fifth Republic, under a new constitution granting the presidency greater power. His inauguration ended years of political instability under the Fourth Republic. De Gaulle would lead France for the next decade.