This selection of old pictures from the Evening News archive gives a glimpse of what was going on - protests against apartheid and education cuts, sit-ins over rent rises, Christmas food parcels for pensioners, fundraising in fancy dress and a men v women rugby match.
And that’s not to mention the campaigns - and battles - to elect university rectors. There are amazing pictures of Gordon Brown as Edinburgh University rector between 1972 and 1975, while he was still a student.
Scroll through the photos and turn the clock back 50 years to catch the atmosphere of Edinburgh in the 1970s.
You can also check out student life in Edinburgh in the 1950s and 1960s.