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Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti - (1937-2006)--Dictator of Iraq from 1979-2003, Saddam Hussein waged war on his own nation's Shiite and Kurdish populations, invaded neighboring Iran and Kuwait, and attempted to build up an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. This buildup, as well as his ongoing difficulties with the United States, resulted in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and his fall from power. After his eventual capture and trial, Saddam was put to death on December 30, 2006.April 28, 1937 - Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti is born in a village near Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
1957 - Joins underground Baath Socialist Party.
1958 - Arrested for killing his brother-in-law, a Communist. Spends six months in prison. (The Baath and the Communist Party were rivals).
Oct. 7, 1959 - Saddam was part of a Baath Party assassination team that ambushed Iraqi dictator Gen. Abdel-Karim Kassem in Baghdad, wounding him. Saddam, wounded in leg, fled to Syria and then to Egypt.
Feb. 8, 1963 - Returns after Baath takes part in coup that overthrows and kills Kassem.
July 30, 1968 - Becomes chief of internal security under President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, his cousin.
July 16, 1979 - Takes over as president from al-Bakr, and launched a major purge of Baath members, ordering nearly two dozen executed.
Sept. 22, 1980 - Sends troops into Iran; war lasts eight years.
March 28, 1988 - Uses chemical weapons against Kurdish town of Halabja, killing estimated 5,000 civilians.
Aug. 2, 1990 - Invades Kuwait, but sees his army driven out by U.S.-led coalition five months later.
Feb. 20, 1996 - Orders killing of his two sons-in-law who had defected to Jordan but who foolishly returned to Baghdad after receiving guarantees of safety.
Nov. 27, 2002 - Under U.N. threat of "serious consequences," allows U.N. weapons experts back into the country.
March 17, 2003 - Gets 48-hour deadline from President George W. Bush to surrender political power in Iraq and to go into exile. The Invasion of Iraq began three days later.
July 22, 2003 - Saddam's sons, Qusai and Odai, are killed in a gunbattle with American soldiers in northern Iraq.
Dec. 13, 2003 - Saddam is captured while hiding in hole in ground near his birthplace of Tikrit.
July 1, 2004 - Arraigned before judge, rejects charges of war crimes and genocide.
Oct. 19, 2005 - Saddam goes on trial with seven co-defendants and is charged in 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims. The executions of the Shiites came after an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him in Dujail.
March 1, 2006 - Admits ordering trial of 148 Shiites eventually executed, but insists doing so was legal.
April 4, 2006 - Faces new criminal charges, for second trial with six others, in connection with brutal 1987-1988 crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq.
June 19, 2006 - Hears prosecution demand death penalty in closing arguments at Dujail trial, saying he showed "no mercy" in the killings of women and children.
Nov. 5, 2006 - Saddam remained defiant as the tribunal in the first trial announced a guilty verdict and sentences him to hang.
Dec. 26, 2006 - Iraq's highest court rejects appeal of conviction, saying Saddam must be hanged within 30 days.
Dec. 30, 2006 - Saddam is executed by hanging at the age of 69.