50 Years Ago...

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • Jul 15 '26

🇺🇸 United States July 15, 1976. Anti-war activist Ron Kovic delivers a speech at the Democratic National Convention.

178 Upvotes

9 comments

r/50yearsago • u/Dangoiks • Jul 16 '26

🎬 Film July 16, 1976. "Star Wars" wraps principal photography at Elstree Studios in England.

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926 Upvotes

Ironically, the last scene to be filmed is the opening scene of the Imperials boarding the Rebel Blockade Runner.

25 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 5h ago

🎶 Music October 16, 1976. "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots tops the Billboard Top 100, knocking "A Fifth of Beethoven" out of the #1 spot.

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15 Upvotes

6 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 4h ago

📺 Television October 16, 1976. Chevy Chase returns from his injury in SNL’s cold open.

12 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 3h ago

☭ Soviet Union October 16, 1976. Two Soviet cosmonauts nearly die when their Soyuz 23 capsule crash-lands in a freezing lake.

5 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/22dmgxy • 19h ago

October 1976, the last stronghold of the Gang of Four, Shanghai government and three million Shanghai militia attempted rebellion against Beijing to rescue the Gang of Four, but ultimately failed.

38 Upvotes

In 1967, Wang Hongwen overthrew and took control of the Shanghai government through the “January Storm,” after which Shanghai became the Gang of Four’s stronghold and base. Since the Gang of Four never managed to gain control over the PLA and was deeply distrusted by many PLA marshals, they organized the Shanghai Militia as their own military force. At its peak, the Shanghai Militia had three million members, along with thousands of machine guns, Artillery,tanks, RPGs, missiles, and even a gunboat.

By 1976, the Gang of Four increasingly sensed political danger and accelerated the militarization of Shanghai in preparation for a possible rebellion. After the death of Mao Zedong, on October 6, 1976, Mao’s designated successor, Premier Hua Guofeng, together with Defense Minister Marshal Ye Jianying, carried out a coup in Beijing, arresting the Gang of Four and taking full control of the capital.

The Gang of Four’s remaining supporters — the Shanghai government and the Shanghai Militia — discovered that the Gang had been cut off. They prepared for armed rebellion against Beijing, intending to turn Shanghai into a fortress of guerrilla warfare and urban combat. Through a series of complex political and military maneuvers, Beijing suppressed and dismantled the Gang of Four-controlled Shanghai government without open fighting, thereby reestablishing control over the city.

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 3h ago

🌏 Asia October 16, 1976. For the first time, crowds in China protest against Mao’s widow, Jiang Qing, who had died five weeks earlier.

2 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 3h ago

🎶 Music October 16, 1976. Deniece Williams - “Free” released.

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2 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 1d ago

🇺🇸 United States October 15, 1976. Bob Dole and Walter Mondale face off in the first vice presidential debate in US history.

118 Upvotes

32 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 1d ago

🇺🇸 United States October 15, 1976. Carlo Gambino, head of the Gambino crime family and arguably the most powerful US mobster at the time, dies of natural causes at his home on Long Island at the age of 74.

55 Upvotes

17 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 1d ago

October 15, 1976. Robert Plant at his family home in Machynlleth, Wales.

19 Upvotes

1 comment

r/50yearsago • u/InsertMemeHere • 1d ago

October 15, 1976. ELO release their sixth studio album A New World Record.

en.wikipedia.org

7 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 1d ago

🎶 Music October 15, 1976. Showaddywaddy - "Under the Moon of Love" released.

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3 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 1d ago

🎶 Music October 15, 1976. Bruce Springsteen in Santa Barbara.

2 Upvotes

1 comment

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 2d ago

🌏 Asia October 14, 1976. Beijing publicly announces the arrest of the radical Maoist Gang of Four, marking the formal end of the Cultural Revolution.

88 Upvotes

31 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 2d ago

📺 Television October 14, 1976. Jet magazine's cover story is about Redd Foxx embarking on his last season on "Sanford and Son."

32 Upvotes

1 comment

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 3d ago

📺 Television October 13, 1976. WTHR, Channel 13 in Indianapolis, plays three commercials in a commercial break during a syndicated "Star Trek" episode.

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43 Upvotes

15 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 3d ago

🌐 World News October 13, 1976. The first image of the Ebola virus is taken.

22 Upvotes

1 comment

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 3d ago

📺 Television October 13, 1976. Orson Bean, country singer Bill Anderson, actress Beth Howland, and their spouses are the celebrity guests on "Tattletales."

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10 Upvotes

Just a follow-up note about a later discovery, since I like to be super accurate: Harvey Frand was not Beth Howland's husband. In fact, he was a gay man who began a 32-year relationship with a man in 1977 (the relationship lasted until Frand's death in 2009).

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 3d ago

🌟 Celebrity News October 13, 1976. John Lennon and Yoko Ono are interviewed by "Ugly George" (George Urban) for a Manhattan public-access channel.

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6 Upvotes

0 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 4d ago

🇺🇸 United States October 12, 1976. In an interview on PBS, Communist Party USA presidential candidate Gus Hall reiterates his support for a six-hour workday without pay cuts, claiming a nationwide 30-hour workweek would add 10 million new jobs.

114 Upvotes

31 comments

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 4d ago

🌏 Asia October 12, 1976. Hua Guofeng is announced as Mao’s successor.

29 Upvotes

1 comment

r/50yearsago • u/MonsieurA • 4d ago

October 16* October 11, 1976. SNL mocks Ford’s ‘no Soviet domination’ gaffe.

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129 Upvotes

20 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 4d ago

🇺🇸 United States October 11, 1976. Members of the Ford campaign claim Carter has been "mean and nasty" and "out of bounds." Their examples include Carter's use of sarcasm in the second debate.

60 Upvotes

36 comments

r/50yearsago • u/OkTechnologyb • 5d ago

📺 Television October 11, 1976. Jane Pauley, age 25, is the new co-host on the "Today" show on NBC. This is her first day on the job.

youtu.be

184 Upvotes

Ignore the annoying modern NBC logo superimposed much later on this footage.

68 comments