Saddam Hussein was born on April 28, 1937 in Tikrit, Iraq and born into a poor family. His father disappeared when he was born. His mother remarried. Saddam's stepfather, Ibrahim Hassan, was cruel to him. His stepfather would insult him and beat him, he would also make Saddam work long hours in the fields and would not allow him to attend school. At the age of ten years old Saddam went to live with his uncle Khairallah Talfah who lived in Baghdad and he had a great influence over him. By the time Saddam was 20 years old, he joins the Arab Baath party and he carried out his first political assassination on a Tikrit who was a supporter of the military ruler Abdel Karim Qassim. The following year he tried and failed to enter Baghdad's Military Academy. But he did take to revolutionary politics. Then in 1958, he marries his wife Sajida. Then in 1959, Saddam had attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister of Iraq and then was arrested for six months. February 1960 he was convicted for the attempted assassination and was sentence to death. He soon escaped to Syria and then to Egypt. Saddam study law in Cairo during 1962-1963. After the Ramadan Revolution in February 1963, Saddam Hussein returned to Iraq and was elected to the Baath Party. In October 1964, he was arrested for charges accusing him of rebelling against the regime. During Saddam's stay in prison, he was elected the Deputy Secretary General of the Baath Party Leadership. July 1968 he participated to overthrow Iraq's president and the regime. He graduated from the College of Law. Saddam was elected the Vice-chairman of the Revolution Command Council in 1969. Then in June 1, 1972 he nationalized all of the oil companies located in Iraq. July 1, 1973 he was dubbed Lieutenant general and the Rafadain Order, First Class. On March 11, 1974 he helped to apply the Autonomy Law for Iraqi Kurdish Citizens and the Kurds were forced to go to Iran.
