Dictator Facts You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

By Humam Ahmed Mujah, 11A

1. In 2012, a 14-year-old North Korean girl, Han Hyon Gyong, drowned while trying to save portraits of dictators Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Thus, the government named her school after her.
2. Joseph Stalin’s son shot himself because of Stalin’s harshness towards him, but he survived. Then Stalin said, ‘He can’t even shoot straight.’
3. Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceasescu banned Scrabble in Romania in the 1980s, describing the board game as ‘Too intellectual.’
4. Benito Mussolini offered almost $2000 to every couple who named their child Benito.
5. Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda, has an official title of ‘His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.’ He never received a Distinguished Service Order (DSO), nor the Military Cross (MC), nor a Doctorate, nor even the Victoria Cross (VC).
6. Kim Jong Il’s eldest son, Kim Il Nam, was the heir to the title of Supreme Leader of North Korea, until he attempted to enter Japan with a fake passport so that he could go to Disneyland.