June 10, 1898: Guantanamo Bay is used as a camp for the first US troops to arrive in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
February 23, 1903: US signs a deal with Cuba to lease 45 square miles (72 square km) of land in Guantanamo Bay for 2,000 gold coins (around $4,000 or Dh14,712) a year. The deal is signed by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt but Cuban President Fidel Castro refuses to accept the money.
January 4, 1961: US-Cuba relationship breaks up, but US naval station in Guantanamo Bay remains.
April 1999: US President Bill Clinton considers plans to allow Kosovo refugees housing facility in Guantanamo Bay, but the idea is scrapped.
September 11, 2001: Thousands killed as a series of suicide hijack attacks are launched across America.
January 2002: First suspects brought from Afghanistan to Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo.
May 2003: Guantanamo Bay prison population hits 680.
October 2003: Red Cross issues a statement noting “deterioration in the psychological health of a large number of detainees”.
July 2004: Military panels begin determining detainees’ “enemy combatant” status in order to circumvent court ruling that detainees could challenge their detention on the US mainland.
February 2006: A United Nations report recommends closure of Guantanamo Bay prison.
May 2006: Pentagon says 75 prisoners are on a hunger strike.
June 2006: US Supreme Court rules 5-3 that the trial system devised by the Bush administration violates US and international law.
September 2006: Fourteen “high-value” detainees are transferred to Guantanamo from secret CIA prisons.
October 2006: US President George W. Bush signs military commissions into law, setting up a new trial system to hear cases against the detainees in Guantanamo.
March 2007: Australian David Hicks pleads guilty to one charge of material support for terrorism during a brief military hearing and is sent home.
June 2008: Five detainees held in connection with the September 11 attacks are arraigned at Guantanamo, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.
June 2008: US Supreme Court rules that detainees should have the right to challenge their detention in US Federal Courts.
October 2008: A Washington DC court orders the release of 17 Chinese Muslims held without charges.
November 2008: Osama Bin Laden’s driver, Salim Ahmad Hamdan, released after his conviction for supporting terrorism.
December 2008: Five 9/11 suspects say they want to plead guilty.
January 14, 2009: The US government admits torturing detainee Mohammad Al Qah’tani while he was at Guantanamo Bay under the Bush administration. It is the first time officials admit using controversial techniques to interrogate prisoners.
January 22, 2009: US President Barack Obama attempts to close down the facility as well as ban certain interrogation methods.
February 23, 2009: Binyam Mohammad is transferred back to the UK after more than four years at the camp. He says he was tortured by the CIA and there were claims that MI5 were aware of the abuse.
June 1, 2009: Prisoner Mohammad Ahmad Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi is found dead in Guantanamo Bay.
July 21, 2009: Obama’s review of detention practices at Guantanamo Bay is delayed by six months.
January 7, 2011: Obama signs the 2011 Defence Authorisation Bill, with provisions to prevent the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the transfer of prisoners away from the camp.
February 2, 2011: Awal Gul dies at Guantanamo Bay.
May 18, 2011: Inayatullah dies at Guantanamo Bay.
September 2, 2011: Sabar Lal Melma dies at Guantanamo Bay.
December 14, 2011: The 2012 National Defence Bill is not vetoed by Obama, effectively paving the way for prisoners to be held indefinitely without charge. It also extends the transfer ban from the facility.
December 9, 2014: A US Senate report details torture techniques used on detainees by the CIA. It details that Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, a detainee in Camp VII, was water-boarded 183 times and outlines similar torture abuses inflicted on other Guantanamo detainees.
