Many people don't know, but before becoming a bloodthirsty dictator and the man responsible for a civil war that claimed over 300,000 lives, Bashar al-Assad was an ophthalmologist. He lived and worked in London, where friends and colleagues described him as shy, reserved, struggling to maintain eye contact during conversations, and a computer enthusiast—a true geek.

However, in 1994, his older brother, who had been groomed since childhood to succeed their father as the leader of Syria's dictatorship, died in a car accident. This tragedy forced Bashar to abandon his medical career and move to Damascus, where, a few years later, he would take over his father's role as Syria's dictator.