October 1956 Joins uprising against proBritish royalist rulers and then becomes a militant in the pan-Arab, secular Ba'ath Party.

October 1959 A year after overthrow of monarchy, takes part in attempt to kill Prime Minister Abdel-Karim Kassem. Flees abroad.

February 1963 Returns to Baghdad when the Ba'ath Party seizes power in a military coup but nine months later Ba'athists are toppled.

Caught and jailed. Elected deputy secretarygeneral of the party while in prison.

July 1968 Saddam helps plot the coup that puts the Ba'ath Party back in power, deposing President Abdul-Rahman Aref.

March 1975 As vice-president of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), signs border agreement with the Shah of Iran, who ends support for an Iraqi Kurdish revolt, causing its collapse.

16 July 1979 Takes power after President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr steps aside as chairman of the RCC.

22 September 1980 Following border skirmishes, Saddam launches war on Iran that lasts eight years.

16 March 1988 Iraqi forces launch chemical attack on Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja (ABOVE), killing about 5,000 people.

20 August A ceasefire is officially implemented in the Iran-Iraq war. The campaign against Kurds continues.

2 August 1990 Launches invasion of Kuwait, prompting UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iraq.

17 January 1991 US-led forces start Gulf War with air attacks on Iraq and occupied Kuwait. Hostilities end on 28 Feb with eviction of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

15 October 1995 Saddam wins a presidential referendum and is elected unopposed with more than 99% of the vote.

15 October 2002 Official results show Saddam wins 100% of votes in a referendum for a new term in office.

7 December Saddam apologises for invasion of Kuwait but blames the emirate's leadership. Kuwait rejects the apology.

February 2003 In first interview in more than a decade, Saddam denies Baghdad has any banned weapons or links to al Qaeda.

20 March US launches war against Iraq.

9 April US forces sweep into the heart of Baghdad as Saddam's three-decade rule crumbles.

22 July US military confirms Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in gun battle in Mosul.

14 December US officials announce capture of Saddam.

19 October 2005 Trial opens with Saddam charged with crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men in Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt. He pleads not guilty.

21 August 2006 Saddam refuses to enter a plea as the trial starts on charges of war crimes in the Anfal campaign that killed tens of thousands of Kurdish villagers in 1988.

5 November A court in Baghdad finds Saddam guilty of crimes against humanity and sentences him to hang for the deaths of 148 Shi'ite men in Dujail.

26 December An Iraqi appeals court con"rms the guilty verdict and death sentence against Saddam in the Dujail case.

30 December Saddam is hanged.