(CNN) Here's a look at the life of the late former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Personal:
Birth date: April 28, 1937
Birth date: April 28, 1937
Death date: December 30, 2006
Birth place: Tikrit, Iraq
Birth name: Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti
Father: Hussein Abid al-Majid
Mother: Subha Tulfah al-Musallat
Marriages: Nidal al-Hamdani (1990-December 30, 2006, his death); Samira al Shahbandar (1986-December 30, 2006, his death); Sajida Khairallah Talfah (1963-December 30, 2006, his death)
Children: with Samira al Shahbandar: Ali; with Sajida Khairallah Talfah: Uday; Qusay; Hala; Rana; Raghad
Religion: Sunni Muslim
Education: University of Baghdad College of Law, 1968
Other Facts:
Hussein was raised by his mother, her second husband Ibrahim al-Hassan and her brother Khairallah Talfah.
Hussein was raised by his mother, her second husband Ibrahim al-Hassan and her brother Khairallah Talfah.
Hussein's first wife, Sajida, was his first cousin, the daughter of his maternal uncle Khairallah Talfah.
Many of Hussein's family members were part of his regime: Brother-in-law Brig. General Adnan Khairallah was Minister of Defense. Sons-in-law General Hussein Kamel, husband to Raghad Hussein, led Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons program and his brother, Colonel Saddam Kamel, husband to Rana Hussein, was in charge of the presidential security forces. Eldest son Uday was head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and younger son Qusay was head of the Internal Security Forces. And half-brother Busho Ibrahim was the Deputy Minister of Justice.
Timeline:
1956 - Takes part in an unsuccessful coup to overthrow King Faisal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said.
1956 - Takes part in an unsuccessful coup to overthrow King Faisal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said.
1957 - Hussein formally joins the Baath Socialist Party.
July 14, 1958 - King Faisal is killed in a coup led by Abdul Karim Kassem.
October 1959 - Hussein and others attack the motorcade of Abdul Karim Kassem. The assassination attempt fails and most of the attackers are killed. Hussein escapes and flees to Syria. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser hears of Hussein's exploits and arranges for him to travel to Cairo.
February 8, 1963 - Kassem is overthrown and executed, and the Baath Party takes over. Hussein returns from Cairo. The new Baath government is overthrown before the end of the year.
1964-1967 - Is arrested and imprisoned after a change in government. He later escapes.
July 17, 1968 - In a bloodless coup, Major General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr of the Baath party becomes Iraq's new president. Hussein becomes secretary and acting deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council.
1973 - Hussein is promoted to lieutenant general.
March 6, 1975 - Hussein and Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran sign a treaty. Iraq gives up claims to the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, while Iran agrees to end its support of the independence seeking Kurds.
1976 - Is promoted to general.
October 1978 - At the Shah's insistence, Hussein expels Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini from Iraq. Khomeini had been in exile in Iraq since 1965.
July 16, 1979 - Hussein becomes the fifth president of Iraq with the retirement of President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr.
1979 - Hussein expels 40,000 Shiite Muslims and orders the execution of Ayatollah Mohammed al-Bakr Sadr, an ally of Ayatollah Khomeini, in response to Khomeini's call for the overthrow of the mostly Sunni Muslim Baathist regime.
September 22, 1980 - Iraq launches an air attack against Iran. The war ends in a stalemate in 1988, with approximately one million deaths.
1982 - Hussein orders the destruction of Dujail, a village in northern Iraq, leading to the deaths of over 140 people.
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