Credit: United States Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (Arabic: معمر محمد أبو منيار القذافي; c. 1942 – 20 October 2011), commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary and politician, and the de facto ruler of Libya for 42 years. Taking power in a 1969 coup d'etat, he ruled from 1977 to 2011, when he was ousted and killed in the Libyan Civil War.