1669-28 Social, Society,& Local News 1946-1993 SUN DEC 18 1983 ED: FINAL
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: 2M LENGTH: 21. 88" MEDIUM
ILLUST: photo: Freedom Flight, Jackie Gleason, Raul Martinez,
Alice Wainwright
SOURCE: FABIOLA SANTIAGO Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO: THE CUBANS
MIAMI 1959-
1983 A QUARTER-CENTURY THAT CHANGED A CITY
1959 January: Revolution in Cuba touches off an exodus to Miami that
continues until 1973. First exi les arrive in Miami.
1959 September: Orchard Villa Elementary becomes the first integrated
school in Florida. Blacks are permitted to swim at Crandon Park for the first
time.
1961 April: Members of Miami ' s exile community, seeking to overthrow the
Castro government, launch an attack on Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
1961 November: Lawyer Alice Wainwright becomes the first woman elected to
the city commission.
1962 February: Dade ' s population reaches one million.
1962 October: The U.S. discovers Russian missile-launching pads in Cuba.
Army trucks parade through Miami, tent cities are erected on the city' s
outskirts and missiles are set up in tomato fields. Fearing a war, many
Miamians leave or retreat to bomb shelters. The crisis ends when Russia agrees
to dismantle the missiles.
1963 August: Comedian Jackie Gleason announces he will begin taping his
TV show in Miami Beach.
1963 October: Number of Cuban exiles to register at the Cuban Refugee
Center reaches 168, 897 .
1964 February: The Beatles arrive to perform on the Ed Sullivan show
being taped at the Deauville Hotel.
1965 November: Fidel Castro opens the port of Camarioca. Cuban exiles
flock there to pick up relatives, bringing 2 ,500 to Miami by boat and another
2 ,500 by plane
1965 December: Two Freedom Flights a day depart Cuba for Miami.
1966 February: Athalie Range becomes Miami ' s first black on the city
commission.
1966 December: The Sunward I sails out of Miami for Nassau, launching
Miami ' s cruise ship industry.
1967 October: A University of Miami study concludes that Cubans are an
economic and cultural asset to Miami.
1968 August: Richard Nixon accepts the Republican nomination for
president during the party' s convention on Miami Beach.
1970 Spring: The number of exiles registered at the Cuban Refugee Center
reaches 364 , 000 . Cubans represent about 23 per cent of Dade' s population.
1972 July: Manolo Reboso is appointed to the Miami City Commission, the
first Cuban to hold the position.
1973 April : The Freedom Flights end, after bringing 260, 561 Cubans to
Miami. The county commission proclaims Dade a bilingual and bicultural county.
Maurice Ferre becomes Miami ' s first Latin mayor.
1974 April: Cuban exile leader Jose Elias de la Torriente is shot by a
sniper firing through the window of his Coral Gables home. Torriente was
criticized for his failure to carry out an invasion of Cuba, for which he
collected large sums of money.
1974 December: Three bombs explode near a Spanish-language radio station;
they are the first blasts of more than 20 anti- Castro bombings in a year.
1975 February: Outspoken exile Luciano Nieves, who advocated peaceful
coexistence with Cuba, is shot to death in a hospital parking lot.
1975 November: Andres Mejides is elected Hialeah' s first Cuban-born
councilman.
1976 April: Cuban radio commentator Emilio Milian is victim of a car bomb
that shatters his legs. Authorities believe anti- Castro terrorists wanted to
silence Milian for his editorials condemning bombings in Miami.
1977 May: Educator Johnny Jones becomes the first black superintendent of
Dade schools.
1977 April: Former Cuban President Carlos Prio Socarras commits suicide
in his Miami home.
1978 January: Janet Reno becomes the first female state attorney in
Florida.
1979 January: For the first time since the revolution, Cuban exiles are
permitted to visit the island. In the first month 3, 640 take the opportunity.
1979 November: For the first time, Latins constitute a majority on the
Miami City Commission.
1979 December: Black insuranceman Arthur McDuffie dies of head injuries
after police chase him for running a red light. The officers say he crashed
his motorcycle, but an investigation reveals he died of a policeman' s blow to
the head.
1980 April: 10, 000 Cubans seeking asylum take over the Peruvian Embassy
in Havana, sparking support in Miami and triggering the Mariel boatlift. By
the time it stops, 124 , 789 refugees pour into Miami. From 90, 000 to 100, 000
settle in Dade.
1980 May: An all-white jury acquits four Metro-Dade policemen accused of
beating McDuffie to death and covering it up. Blacks in Liberty City riot for
three days. Eighteen people die, 270 are reported injured and damage estimates
range from $100 to $200 million.
1980 November: Voters approve an ordinance prohibiting the use of any
language other than English in county business. Accountant Paul Cejas is
elected to the Dade School Board, becoming the first Latin elected to a
countywide office.
1981 September: Former Sweetwater Mayor Jorge Valdes is apppointed to the
Dade County Commission, becoming the first Cuban to hold the position.
1981 November: Raul Martinez is elected mayor of Hialeah, becoming the
first Cuban-born mayor of an American city of more than 100, 000 .
1982 December: The fatal shooting of a black youth in a video game room
by a white policeman sparks several days of civil unrest in Overtown.
1983 November: After a bitter race fought along ethnic lines, Maurice
Ferre wins an unprecedented sixth term as mayor of Miami, defeating Cuban-born
candidate Xavier Suarez. In Hialeah, three Cuban-Americans win seats, joining
another on the seven-member city council to create a Hispanic majority. --
FABIOLA SANTIAGO
ADDED TERMS: cuban refugee mi and history chronology mh series
profile cause
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