1941: Kim Jong Il Believed to be born in Siberia in the Soviet Union.

February 16, 1942: North Korea's official birth date for Kim Jong Il, on the country's Mount Paekdu.

1948: His father, Kim Il Sung, founds communist North Korea.

1964: Kim Jong Il Graduates from Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University and joins ruling party.

September 1973: Kim Jong Il named party's secretary of organization and propaganda.

February 1974: Kim Jong Il is elected to the Political Bureau of the Workers Party's Central Committee and is formally named as his father's successor.

December 1991: Kim Jong Il is named Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.

April 1993: Kim Jong Il is named Chairman of the National Defense Commission.

July 8, 1994: Kim Il Sung dies, leaving Kim Jong Il as North Korea's leader.

October 1997: Kim Jong Il is named General Secretary of the Workers' Party.

August 2008: Reportedly suffers stroke.

September 28, 2010: His third son, Kim Jong Un, promoted to four-star general in move seen as grooming him to be future leader.

December 17, 2011: Kim Jong Il dies of a heart attack, according to state media.