Piece by piece, in backpacks and carry-on bags, American aid contractor Alan Gross made sure laptops, smartphones, hard drives and networking equipment were secreted into Cuba. The most sensitive item, according to official trip reports, was the last one: a specialized mobile phone chip that experts say is often used by the Pentagon and the CIA to make satellite signals virtually impossible to track.

Facing domestic political pressures, the Bush and Obama administrations released or transferred 600 terror suspects deemed an acceptable threat from the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, only to find that 27 percent re-engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities, according to a report by Republicans on the investigations panel of the House Armed Services Committee.

Better known for its experiment in offshore detention, interrogation and military justice, Guantánamo is also a lab for environmental exploration.

Nearly three dozen Cuban asylum seekers were confined to the Leeward side of the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Tuesday, no longer able to send packages to family across the minefield in a security crackdown at the U.S. migrant center at the base in southeast Cuba.

When it started, American teenagers were doing "The Twist." The United States had yet to put a man into orbit around the Earth. And a first-class U.S. postage stamp cost 4 cents.

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, regular charter flights to Havana resumed Saturday after a decades-long hiatus.

Companies that ferry travelers to Cuba are often targets of those who want to limit travel to the Communist island.