Tiananmen Square

a plaza in Beijing, China that was the scene of a massive peaceful pro-democracy movement in 1989. The protestors occupied the area for several days. The protests were begun by students and soon farmers, urban laborers and others joined in. It was covered by foreign media extensively. Some demonstrators held signs expressing (in English) a desire for glasnost like that in the U.S.S.R courtesy of Gorbachev. Some erected a huge papier mache statue dubbed the "Goddess of Democracy". Sad to say, the Politburo Red Army revved up their tanks and started to chase and mow down demonstrators in their paths. I saw this hideous crackdown erupt live on NBC. A few protestors managed to stick torches into tanks and burn them up. A massive news blackout was immediately imposed by the Chinese authorities. To this day foreigners still don't know how many Chinese people lost their lives in the bloodbath. Estimates run up to the thousands, maybe more.