Meet Carlos the Jackal, the godfather of global terrorism

Key Points:

• On December 21, 1975, six armed men led by Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, later known as Carlos the Jackal, attacked the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, killing three and taking 62 hostages, including top oil officials, in a high-profile terrorist act.
• Carlos, born in Venezuela in 1949, rose from a privileged communist family background to become an infamous international terrorist, responsible for over 80 murders and thousands more ordered by him, according to his own admission.
• His nickname "Carlos the Jackal" originated from a British newspaper's association with a thriller novel found in his apartment, which helped turn him into a glamorous anti-hero figure in the media despite his brutal crimes.
• After decades of terror activities supported by various Middle Eastern regimes, Carlos was captured in Sudan in 1994 following varicocele surgery, and he has since been serving multiple life sentences in France without showing remorse.
• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joby Warrick's new book, "The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World’s First Super-Terrorist," draws on declassified documents and personal interviews to chronicle Carlos's transformation from a wealthy playboy to a notorious global terrorist.