Mad Kings

Uday Hussein, the son of his much more well-known father, Saddam, lived a life of nearly unchecked power and opulence in Iraq for decades. Throughout his life, Uday personally killed, abused, and tortured thousands of victims without remorse and with little punishment. He is likely one of the most prolific serial killers and sadists throughout the annals of human history, and despite his incredibly well known father, few people in the West have ever even heard of him. This is the true, horrifying story of Uday Hussein; mad prince of Iraq.

Idi Amin was without a doubt one of the more eccentric dictators of modern history. During his brief 8 years in power in Uganda, he crowned himself the King of Scotland, was accused of being a cannibal, kidnapped more than 100 Israelis, fed many of his victims to crocodiles, challenged other world leaders to boxing matches to settle disputes, and invaded his neighbors. This is the story of one of modern history's most bizarre personalities.

For 24 years, Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled over Romania with absolute, totalitarian power in a quest to radically transform the country into the North Korea of Europe. By the end of his reign in 1989, Ceaușescu and his wife would become the only dictators in history to be executed by their own people on live TV, broadcast to millions of people. This is the story of modern Europe's most eccentric and totalitarian government.

Muammar Gaddafi ruled the oil-rich nation of Libya for more than 40 years, making him one of the modern world's longest-serving leaders. Throughout that time, Gaddafi's bizarre personality and eccentricities frequently captured headlines from around the world, such as the time he proposed to abolish Switzerland at the UN, the time he attempted to camp in a tent in New York City's Central Park, or the time he attempted to invade his neighbor Chad, among countless other examples. This is a brief window into the strange and eccentric life of one of modern history's most interesting rulers.

Kim Il Sung founded North Korea and the Kim dynasty that has continually ruled it ever since. Personally serving as North Korea's Supreme Leader for nearly 46 years, he was the 2nd-longest serving non-royal head of state during the entire 20th-century, and despite the fact that he has now been dead for more than 30 years, he continues to be recognized as North Korea's "Eternal President" anyway. Learn all about the grandfather of the Kim Dynasty.

Kim Jong Il, the second Supreme Leader of North Korea, succeeded his father upon his death in 1994 in the communist world's only instance of dynastic succession. He would end up ruling the hermit kingdom for the next 17 years through many of the country's greatest crises, including an apocalyptic famine that potentially killed millions in the 1990s, the development of an atomic bomb, and the biggest military clash with the South since the end of the Korean War.