Jeff Widener/AP
In this now iconic photograph, a Chinese protester blocks a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Blvd. in front of the Beijing Hotel, June 5, 1989.
The man, calling for an end to the violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way.
The crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989, killed hundreds, possibly more. The Chinese government has never fully disclosed what happened on that day and branded the protests a "counterrevolutionary riot."
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Chinese residents check a burning armoured personnel carrier which was set on fire by rioters when the army opened fire on civilians, June 4, 1989 near Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
On the night June 3-4, 1989, Tiananmen Square sheltered the last pro-democracy supporters. In a show of force, China leaders vented their fury and frustration on student dissidents and their pro-democracy supporters.
Several hundred people have been killed and thousands wounded when soldiers moved on Tiananmen Square during a violent military crackdown ending six weeks of student demonstrations, known as the Beijing Spring movement.
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A dissident student asks soldiers to go back home as crowds flooded into central Beijing June 3, 1989.
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An armored personnel carrier in flames as students set it on fire near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, June 4, 1989.
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A dissident student asks soldiers to go back home as crowds flooded into central Beijing June 3, 1989.
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People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers leap over a barrier in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, June 4, 1989.
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An unidentified foreign journalist (2nd-r) is carried out from the clash site between the army and students near Tiananmen Square, June 4, 1989.
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Beijing residents inspect the interior of some of over 20 armored personnel carriers burned by demonstrators to prevent troops from moving into Tiananmen Square, June 4, 1989.
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Beijing residents inspect the interior of some of over 20 armored personnel carriers burnt by demonstrators to prevent troops from moving into Tiananmen Square, June 4, 1989.
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Citizens and students flash the "V"-sign to celebrate their victory after forcing tens of thousands of troops to retreat from central Beijing, June 3, 1989.
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Climbing on the roof of a bus, students display confiscated machine guns, helmets and military caps after they forced tens of thousands of troops to retreat from central Beijing, June 3, 1989.
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Exhausted, humiliated soldiers are hustled away by people in Beijing, June 3, 1989.
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Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army are forced by dissident students to sit in front of the Great hall of the People at Tiananmen Square, June 3, 1989.
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Dissident students and workers armed with wooden sticks gather outside the Great hall of the People at Tiananmen Square, June 3, 1989.
They shouted slogans demanding the ouster of Premier Li Peng who declared martial law in the capital May 20.
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Two injured people are transported during the clash between the army and students near Tiananmen Square, June 4, 1989.
Catherine Henriette/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier threatens them with a gun as tanks took position at Beijing's key intersections next to the diplomatic compound, June 5, 1989.
CBS
CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather reporting from China's Tiananmen Square in 1989, where he was the only network news anchor broadcasting from the pro-democracy uprising.
