TONUS OH:
Regarding the 1975 thing, they have selective memory loss. I was not yet in the religion and might not have gotten involved if I knew about this!
Witnesses are not encouraged to research the religion’s past, and there might be many JWs today who know absolutely nothing about what happened before 1975.. Many Witnesses today never heard about all those who quit jobs back then (notice that theme about getting people to quit their jobs - which they tried to get me to do when I came in some years later).
Those JWs back then got into debt they never expected to pay back, sold their homes and/or gave away(?) possessions and went to where ‘the need was great’ or pioneered until the End, etc. Then when the End didn’t come by New Years Day 1976 - all these gullible Witnesses had to start all over again! Some left the religion.
This would be so tragic if something similar were to happen again today in 2025 or so. But, nothing would surprise me when you are dealing with ignorance in this secretive group that hides its history!