Kim Il-sung was born on 15 April 1912 in Mangyŏngdae. The founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung led guerrilla units against Japanese rule in Korea and Manchuria before the Soviet Union backed him as leader of its zone of occupation in the north after 1945. He became head of government when the state was founded in 1948 and later its president. He launched the Korean War in 1950, which ended in an armistice in 1953 without a peace treaty. He developed the state ideology of juche, or self-reliance, and cultivated an intense personality cult. After his death in 1994 he was named Eternal President, and power passed to his son Kim Jong-il.
Before and after
- 28 January 1912Birth of Jackson Pollock
- 1 March 1912Founding of World Tennis
- 23 March 1912Birth of Wernher von Braun
- 27 March 1912Birth of James Callaghan
- 15 April 1912Birth of Kim Il-sung
- 30 April 1912Founding of Universal Pictures
- 8 May 1912Founding of Paramount Pictures
- 6 June 1912Eruption of Novarupta
- 23 June 1912Birth of Alan Turing
More in Wars, politics & history
- 4 July 1776United States Declaration of Independence
- 17 September 1787United States Constitution
- from 1803 to 1815Napoleonic Wars
- 1815Congress of Vienna
- from October 1853 to February 1856Crimean War
- from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871Franco-Prussian War
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.