Cultural Revolution: The January Storm revolt in Shanghai reached its apogee as Maoist rebels proclaimed the establishment of the Shanghai People's Commune, a move the previously supportive Mao Zedong criticized.

Following a failed coup attempt, Mao Zedong's second-in-command Lin Biao died in a plane crash while attempting to flee China.

Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong publicly proclaimed (pictured) the establishment of the People's Republic of China in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.