Showing posts with label Mao Zedong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mao Zedong. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Thursday, September 16, 1976. Noche de los Lápices.

Teenage members of the Unión de Estudiantes Secundarios were rounded up by masked agents of the Argentine government and would continue for the next several days.   The victims would be tortured, raped, and in most instances, murdered.

The victims were:

  • María Claudia Falcone, age 16. She is missing and presumed murdered. According to her brother Jorge Falcone, she was a Montoneros militant.
  • Claudio de Acha, age 17.  Missing and presumed murdered.
  • Gustavo Calotti "Francés" age 18 He was a police cadet.  He survived.
  • María Clara Ciocchini, age 18.  A Catholic school student, she was murdered.
  • Pablo Díaz, age 18.  He survived.
  • Francisco López Muntaner "Panchito", age 16.  Missing and presumed murdered.
  • Patricia Miranda, age 17.  He did not belong to any militant organization and was ultimately released.
  • Emilce Moler, age 17.  She survived.
  • Daniel A. Racero, age 18.  Missing and presumed murdered.
  • Horacio Ungaro, age 17 Missing and presumed murdered.

Quite frankly, with the US on the very eve of an upcoming attempt by populist extremist to steal the 2026 election, things like this are now quite imaginable here in the US.

The first angioplasty on a human being was performed by West German surgeon Andreas Gruentzig.

Mao's widow Jiang Qing altered the Chairman's final directive with the help of three others giving rise to the Gang of Four which would briefly rule Communist China.

The House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church of the United States voted to permit the ordination of women into the Episcopal priesthood. 

1976 was at the height of the first wave feminist movement and the Episcopal Church, traditionally the richest and most powerful Church in the United States, had taken a definitely liberal bent.  Nearly all American Christian churches were going through a left wing wave at the time.  In the case of the Episcopal Church, this was effectively the beginning of its downfall.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 14, 1976. Last foreigners out of Vietnam.

Monday, September 7, 2026

Tuesday, September 7, 1976. Mao dies.

Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong died at age 82.

Like all real Communist leaders he was responsible for seas of blood being shed, in his case in China.  His long rise to power featured a very prolonged contest with Chiang Kai-shek, whom he outlived by one year.  

Last edition:

Monday, September 6, 1976. The defection of Viktor Belenko.

Sunday, September 6, 2026

Monday, September 6, 1926. Chiang Kai-shek enters Hankou.

The Kuomintang and the Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army, which were essentially the same thing, captured the port of Hankou in Hubei province.

There are real reasons why, in recent years, Chiang has seen a reappraisal of his reputation.  He truly was a major unifying force in warlord era China, and one which, in spite of his later opposition to them, the Chinese Communists would not have prevailed.  His failure to win the later civil war can be debated as to cause.  The country today may bear a closer resemblance to what he envisioned than to what Mao did.

3,000 mourners turned out to observe Rudolph Valentino's funeral train arrive in Los Angeles.

It was Labor Day in the United States.

Last edition:

Sunday, September 5, 1926. British fight at Wanxian.

Friday, October 10, 2025

Wednesday, October 10, 1945. Uncle Mike: "The World's Worst Series".


October 10, 1945: "The World's Worst Series"

The Detroit Tigers won the World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs 9 to 3 in game four.

The Chongqing Negotiations (Chinese: 重慶談判) came to an end.

The negotiations were between the Nationalist and the Communists and marked a resumption, after a twenty year gap, of efforts between the two contesting sides to resolve their differences.  Both sides signed the Double Tenth Agreement at the end.

This day would be the last meeting between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong.

The Double Tenth Agreement provided:

  1. The CCP recognized the KMT as the legitimate ruling party of China
  2. All political parties within China were legalized.
  3. The KMT and CCP would end the war between them.
  4. The formation of a political consultative conference to discuss plans for state building with guaranteed representation of all political parties.
  5. The abolition of CCP and KMT secret services.
  6. Holding a general election to determine the next ruling party of China.
  7. Putting an end to political tutelage within China.
Neither side really fully intended to honor the treaty and it is clear that the Communists did not.

The British completed the reoccupation of the Andaman Islands.

The Allied Control Council abolished the Nazi Party.

The Communist Party of Korea was founded, unfortunately.

Joseph Darnand, a French hero of the Great War, far right politician between the wars to the point of belonging to the La Cagoule terrorist organization, decorated French soldier again upon the German invasion of 1940 only to form the collaborationist militia, Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL) and become a member of the SS, was executed.  He was 48.

CBS successfully conducted an experiment in color television.

Last edition:

Friday, October 5, 1945. Hollywood Black Friday.

Friday, August 29, 2025

Wednesday, August 29, 1945. The USS Missouri arrives at Tokyo Bay.


Mao Tse-tung and Chiang Kai-shek met for talks to avert civil war, which was already going on, between the Communists and the Nationalists in China.  The Xinghua Campaign began on the same day.

Japanese troops in Southeast Asia, numbering around 740,000 surrendered to the British.

The Royal Navy arrived to reestablish British control of Hong Kong.

The USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay.

US military investigations on the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor were released.  They contained criticism of former Secretary of State Hull, General Marshall and Admiral Stark  Truman objected to the findings on Marshall and Hull.

The musical State Fair was released.

Last edition:

Tuesday, April 28, 1945. U.S. Troops in Japan.

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Saturday, May 3, 1975. End of the Cultural Revolution.

Chinese Communist Party, Chairman Mao Zedong spoke out against the Cultural Revolution and the Gang of Four in his last speech to the Politburo.

All former South Vietnamese military personnel and government officials were ordered to register with the new government.  This was the first step to sending them to reeducation camps.

The city of Jerusalem was hit by missiles for the first time, after two Czechoslovakian made Katyusha rockets struck 500 meters from the Knesset parliament building.  They were fired by Arab guerillas.

New edition:

Friday, May 2, 1975. Hold outs.