China detonates its first atomic bomb at Lop Nur, becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.
The Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka opens as the world's first high-speed railway line.
China and India fight a Himalayan border war over Aksai Chin and present-day Arunachal Pradesh, ending in a unilateral Chinese ceasefire.
Mao Zedong launches a decade-long political movement that brings social upheaval, persecution and the destruction of cultural heritage.
A campaign of rapid industrialisation and collectivisation leads to a great famine that kills tens of millions.
U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit opens the way to normalised relations between the United States and China.
Farmers digging a well near Xi'an uncover thousands of terracotta warriors buried with Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.