UPDATED: Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m. EST
In a historic turn of events, the U.S. and Cuba are starting talks that could normalize full diplomatic relations, marking the most significant shift in policy towards the communist island in decades. Here's how the day the two countries announced the deal played out.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW
President Obama said the U.S. and Cuba are poised to resume diplomatic relations after a half-century political freeze.
Cuba released American Alan Gross, who has been imprisoned for five years, and an unnamed U.S. spy who Obama called "one of the most important intelligence agents that the United States has ever had in Cuba."
The Internet will be more accessible throughout Cuba following Wednesday's move.
You can now enter the U.S. with $100 worth of Cuban cigars, but tourism wont' changed -- yet.
Pope Francis played a key role in U.S.-Cuba reconciliation.
THE LATEST
[View the story "Live updates on US-Cuba relations" on Storify]