| DATE | BRIEF DESCRIPTION |
| 1893 | Born December 26 in the Hunan Province of China, the son of a peasant farmer. |
| 1911-1912 | Serves in the Nationalist army in the 1911-1912 revolution against the Manchu government. |
| 1918 | Graduates from the Changsha teacher-training school. |
| 1921 | Helps found the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai. |
| 1923-1927 | Alliance with the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). |
| 1931 | Elected first Chairman of the new Chinese Soviet Republic. |
| 1934-1936 | Leads the Red Army on the 9,600-km Long March to Shaanxi in north-west China. |
| 1937-1945 | Communist guerrillas successfully resist Japanese attacks. |
| 1949 | Elected Chairman of the newly proclaimed People's Republic of China. |
| 1958 | Introduces unsuccessful Great Leap Forward policy that attempts to decentralize the economy by establishing autonomous local communes. |
| 1959 | Retires as head of state but remains Party Chairman. |
| 1966 | Launches the Great People's Cultural Revolution. |
| 1970 | Becomes Supreme Commander of China. |
| 1976 | Dies September 9 in Beijing. |
