Did the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown happen in 1989?

Yes, the Tiananmen Square protests and the subsequent military crackdown occurred in 1989.[1]

Student-led demonstrations began in mid-April 1989 in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square (and spread to other cities), sparked by the death of reformist Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang. Protesters, who grew to include workers and ordinary citizens numbering in the hundreds of thousands to over a million at peak, called for democracy, free speech, an end to corruption, and political reforms.[2]

After weeks of occupation, hunger strikes, and failed negotiations, the Chinese government declared martial law in May. On the night of June 3–4, 1989, People’s Liberation Army troops advanced with tanks and live ammunition to clear the square and surrounding areas, resulting in a violent crackdown (often called the Tiananmen Square Massacre or June Fourth Incident). Hundreds to thousands of civilians were killed (exact numbers remain disputed; official Chinese figures are much lower than independent estimates), with many more injured or arrested.[3]

This is a well-documented historical event confirmed by contemporary reporting, declassified documents, eyewitness accounts, and sources including History.com, BBC, Britannica, Reuters, Amnesty International, CNN, and others. The Chinese government refers to it as the “political turmoil between the spring and summer of 1989” and heavily censors discussion of it domestically.