Stock Photo - SADDAM HUSSEIN, Iraq Leader 1979-2003. b.Apr. 28, 1937 near Tikrit. Father died or disappeared before he was born. 1957:At 20, joins the Baath Party. 1959: Flees Iraq for Cairo, after taking part in an attempt to assassinate the country's ruler, Gen. Abdul-Karim Kassim, and is sentenced to death in absentia.1963: After the Baath Party overthrows Kassim, he returns, but then is imprisoned after Baath leadership is ousted. 1967: Escapes takes charge of the underground Baath Party's secret internal security organization. 1968: Baath Party wins back power under the leadership of Gen. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, who appoints Saddam, his distant cousin, as his deputy. Purges key party figures, deports thousands of Shiites of Iranian origin and supervises the state takeover of Iraq's oil industry and land reform. 1979: Forces al-Bakr to resign. Hundreds of Baath and military officials are executed in purge. Sept. 22, 1980: Iraqi forces invade Iran, launching an 8 year war that costs over 100,000 lives on both sides and kills his plans to transform Iraq into a developed, prosperous country. 1982: Shiite guerrillas ambush his convoy in Dujail. He escapes. About 148 Shiites are killed in the wake of the assassination attempt. 1987: Launches his 'Anfal' campaign against Iraqi Kurdish rebels, in which tens of thousands civilians are killed. Aug. 2, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait. January 1991: A U.S.-led coalition push Iraqi out of Kuwait. March 20, 2003: U.S.-led coalition forces invade Iraq. Within 3 weeks, Iraq's army collapses and Baghdad falls. He flees. Dec. 13, 2003: U.S. soldiers capture him, bearded disheveled and hiding in an underground bunker in Adwar, near Tikrit. Oct. 19, 2005: Saddam + 7 others go on trial for the Dujail killings. Nov. 5, 2006: Convicted, sentenced to death by hanging. Sentence appealed and upheld. Executed by hanging Dec. 30, 2006. PICTURED: Mar 16, 1988 - Halabja, Iraq - Kurdish civilians killed by the gas attack. (Credit Image: © Keystone Press Agency/Keystone USA via ZUMAPRESS.com)