Ayatullah Haajj Sayyid Ali Khamenei was born July 17th, 2014 in Mashhad to Seyyed Javad Khamenei and Khadijeh Mirdamani. Being the second eldest of eight children, Khamenei and his family were very poor living in a small house with only one room. Although they were poor, Khamenei's family, especially his father, was very religious. Growing up Khamenei was inspired by his father and went into religious studies. In the year 1952, when a revolutionist visited Mashhad while he was still a student, Khamenei attended the lecture Sayyid Mujtaba Nawwab Safawiin was giving and felt a spark of interest in political activism. Still continuing with his religious studies. Later in 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini, an Iranian religious leader and politician who had also been the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, appointed Khamenei to the post of Tehran's Friday prayers Imam after the forced resignation of Hussein-Ali Montazeri. Khamenei thren briefly served as the Deputy Minister for Defence and as the supervisor for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. In 1981, due to an attempted assassination, Khamenei's right arm became fully paralyzed. That same year, after the assassination of Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Khamenei was elected President of Iran in the Iranian presidential elections of October 1981. Khamenei was there to help guide the country during the Iraq-Iran War during the 1980's. As president, he had a reputation of being deeply interested in the military, budget, and administrative details. In 1989, after Ruhollah Khomeini's death, Khamenei was elected the new Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts on June 4th, 1989. Khamenei was elected Leader by 60/70 members that were present. He is still alive and still hold the position as the Supreme Leader of Iran. He was selected the 21st in the list of "The World's Most Powerful People" by Forbes.