January 8
Zhou Enlai passed away.
Late March–April 5
Activities for mourning Zhou Enlai and opposing the “Gang of Four” broke out in Beijing, Nanjing and other places. On April 5, memorial activities carried out by people in Beijing at the Tiananmen Square were erroneously defined as a “counter-revolutionary incident.”
March 30–May 22
China’s over-10,000-ton distant-ocean scientific research vessels Xiangyanghong-5 and Xiangyanghong-11, successfully performed their first distant-ocean scientific research duties in the Pacific Ocean.
April 7
At the suggestion of Mao Zedong, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee appointed Hua Guofeng as first vice-chairman of the CPC Central Committee and premier of the State Council. Deng Xiaoping was unjustifiably removed from all posts both inside and outside the Party.
June 6
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Xingang Port of Dalian, China’s first modern deep-water oil port with 100,000-ton berths, completed its construction.
July 6
Zhu De passed away.
July 28
A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Tangshan and Fengnan, Hebei Province, and affected Tianjin, Beijing and other places. Over 242,000 people lost their lives and over 164,000 people were severely injured. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the CPC Central Military Commission and with the support of the people across the country and the PLA, people in the earthquake-stricken areas put in vigorous efforts to carry out the earthquake relief work.
September 9
Mao Zedong passed away. On September 18, over one million of people in Beijing solemnly held a mourning ceremony at the Tiananmen Square. Memorial activities were held in all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country.
October 6
To honor the shared wishes of the Party and the people, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee adopted resolute measures to head off the conspiracy of the “Gang of Four.” The “Cultural Revolution” that had lasted for as long as 10 years was put to an end.
From: Chronicle of the People's Republic of China (October 1949 — September 2019) ,edited by The Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, PP84-86