On this day in 1967, socialist revolutionary and guerilla leader Che Guevara, was killed by the Bolivian army, at the age of 39. Born Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna was born in Argentina in 1928, into a well to do family.
It was while he was studying medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, (from where he got a Medical degree in 1953) that he took time off to travel around South America on a motorcycle.
During his trips, he witnessed the poverty and oppression of the lower classes, a sight which later got him involved in left-wing opposition on completion of his education.
A close ally of Fidel Castrol, he was instrumental in the seizure of power from Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 by Fidel Castro and served as his right hand man.
He was assassinated by the U.S.-military-backed Bolivian forces on October 8th after an extensive battle with his band of guerillas in Bolivia. As a proof of his death, his hands were cut off and his body buried in an unmarked grave.
He was reburied in 1997, by the Cuban government after his remains were found and sent back to Cuba. The ceremony was attended by then President Fidel Castro and thousands of Cubans.