Born: October 12th, 1949, in Caracas, Venezuela to a wealthy Marxist lawyer. Named after Vladimir Illich Lenin, he took an early interest in terrorist movements.
1960s: Trained in Cuba; attended Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. Became friendly with Palestinian militants. Expelled for being a poor student, he joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), led by George Habash.
1970s: Worked on special operations in Europe, where he met Baader-Meinhof gang, Japanese Red Army and intelligence services of the Eastern bloc.
1972: Eleven Israeli athletes massacred at Munich Olympics.
1973: British millionaire Edward Sieff, whose family owns Marks and Spencer stores, wounded.
1974: London bank, described as Zionist, bombed; French Embassy in The Hague taken over; Publicis Champs-Elysees drugstore bombed, two killed and 34 wounded.
1975: Two French intelligence agents killed at Orly airport in Paris; OPEC headquarters in Vienna attacked. Three killed, 11 taken hostage. Cartel's oil ministers taken to North Africa in a $1 billion ransom.
1976: Air France aircraft to Entebbe, Uganda, hijacked.
1982: Bombing of Paris-Toulouse express; Six killed, 15 wounded; Carlos sentenced in absentia to life in jail for 1975 murders. His fingerprints were found on letter sent to French Interior Minister Gaston Defferre, threatening reprisals if activists Magdalena Kopp and Bruno Breguet not released. On the day they were jailed on arms and explosive charges, bomb in Paris killed one, wounded 60.
1983: Bombing in Marseille railroad terminal and on Paris-Marseille express; Five killed and 50 wounded; French cultural centre in West Berlin bombed: One killed, 23 wounded.
1985: Married Magdalena Kopp.
1991: Libya refused Carlos entry.
1993: Sanctuary in Sudan.