Kim Jong-il was born on 16 February 1941 in Vyatskoye. The second leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il was the son of the country's founder Kim Il-sung and was groomed as his successor from the 1970s. He took full control after his father's death in 1994. His rule was marked by a military-first policy, a devastating famine in the mid-1990s, tight state control of information and the development of nuclear weapons, including the country's first nuclear test in 2006. He was known for his interest in cinema, and he arranged the abduction of a South Korean director and actress to improve the North's film industry. He died of a heart attack in December 2011 and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un.
Before and after
- 19411941 becomes the warmest year on record
- 5 January 1941Birth of Hayao Miyazaki
- 13 January 1941Death of James Joyce
- 20 January 1941Third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 16 February 1941Birth of Kim Jong-il
- from 25 February 1941 to 27 February 1941February strike
- 4 March 1941Operation Claymore
- 16 March 1941Birth of Bernardo Bertolucci
- 26 March 1941Birth of Richard Dawkins
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 8 March 1917 to 16 March 1917February Revolution
- 23 August 1939Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
- from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940Winter War
- from 22 June 1941 to 7 May 1945Eastern Front
- from 22 June 1941 to 5 December 1941Operation Barbarossa
- 7 December 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.