I've known fidel castro's name since high school, you know, the current events quizzes. and then vladimir's name has been there in the political arena eversince 90s. and now that they are stepping down, is it really the end of their era? maybe not, as they 'appoint' their successors...
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Feb 19, 2008 ABC News
After almost half a century in power, Cuba's Fidel Castro is stepping down. He made the announcement overnight on the online edition of the Cuban Communist Daily paper Granma. "I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of president of the state council and commander in chief." That means that for the first time since 1959, the 81-year-old will not be officially in charge in Cuba.
His brother Raul, 76, who has been acting president for his ailing brother, since July 2006, will be formally installed this weekend. The world's longest-serving political leader is leaving on his own terms, having survived efforts by 10 U.S. presidents to bring him down, including a disastrous CIA-backed invasion in 1961 and a missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1962.
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March 3, 2008, World News 
MOSCOW, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia's first deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev won a landslide victory in Sunday's presidential election, becoming the successor of incumbent President Vladimir Putin, who is barred constitutionally from seeking a consecutive third term and is to step down in May after eight years in office. Following is a timeline of highlights of Putin presidency:
-- Aug. 1999: President Boris Yeltsin names Putin as acting prime minister.
-- Dec. 1999: Yeltsin resigns on New Year's Eve; Putin becomes acting president.
-- March 2000: Putin is elected president of Russia.
-- May 2000: Putin is sworn in as Russia's second democratically elected president.
-- June 2000: Putin holds a summit in Moscow with U.S. President Bill Clinton. The two leaders sign agreements to tackle new threats to global stability and also agree to bridge differences over missile defense system.
-- Aug. 2000: The Kursk nuclear-powered submarine sinks in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 sailors on board. Putin's image suffers a jolt as he comments on the crisis for the first time four days later.
-- June 2001: Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush meet for their first summit in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
-- May 2002: Putin and Bush publicly differ in Moscow. Putin denies Russia could help Iran develop nuclear weapons.
-- June 2003: Russia closes the TVS television channel, the only countrywide TV station not controlled by the state.
-- March 2004: Putin is re-elected as Russian president, winning more than 70 percent of the vote.
-- Sept. 2004: A group of terrorists take more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania, triggering a three-day standoff that ends in gun battle. More than 300 hostages are killed, half of them children.
-- April 2005: Putin becomes the first Russian leader to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, as part of a Middle East tour.
-- Jan. 2006: Russian gas monopoly Gazprom halts gas supplies to Ukraine after Kiev rejects its terms on natural gas deliveries and transit. Europe's energy supplies are affected.
-- July 2006: Russia hosts its first Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, as bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington soured.
-- Dec. 2007: Putin publicly voices his support for First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his favored successor and starts to support him in the election campaign.
-- Dec. 2007: Putin is named by the Time magazine "Person of the Year" for 2007.
-- Aug. 1999: President Boris Yeltsin names Putin as acting prime minister.
-- Dec. 1999: Yeltsin resigns on New Year's Eve; Putin becomes acting president.
-- March 2000: Putin is elected president of Russia.
-- May 2000: Putin is sworn in as Russia's second democratically elected president.
-- June 2000: Putin holds a summit in Moscow with U.S. President Bill Clinton. The two leaders sign agreements to tackle new threats to global stability and also agree to bridge differences over missile defense system.
-- Aug. 2000: The Kursk nuclear-powered submarine sinks in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 sailors on board. Putin's image suffers a jolt as he comments on the crisis for the first time four days later.
-- June 2001: Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush meet for their first summit in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
-- May 2002: Putin and Bush publicly differ in Moscow. Putin denies Russia could help Iran develop nuclear weapons.
-- June 2003: Russia closes the TVS television channel, the only countrywide TV station not controlled by the state.
-- March 2004: Putin is re-elected as Russian president, winning more than 70 percent of the vote.
-- Sept. 2004: A group of terrorists take more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania, triggering a three-day standoff that ends in gun battle. More than 300 hostages are killed, half of them children.
-- April 2005: Putin becomes the first Russian leader to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, as part of a Middle East tour.
-- Jan. 2006: Russian gas monopoly Gazprom halts gas supplies to Ukraine after Kiev rejects its terms on natural gas deliveries and transit. Europe's energy supplies are affected.
-- July 2006: Russia hosts its first Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, as bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington soured.
-- Dec. 2007: Putin publicly voices his support for First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his favored successor and starts to support him in the election campaign.
-- Dec. 2007: Putin is named by the Time magazine "Person of the Year" for 2007.
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