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 pro-democracy demonstrations began in mid-April 1989 in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square (and spread to other cities), triggered by the death of reformist official Hu Yaobang. They grew to involve hundreds of thousands to over a million people at peak, with demands for political reform, an end to corruption, greater press freedom, and related issues. A hunger strike in May intensified the movement.[2]

Martial law was declared on May 20, 1989. On the night of June 3–4, 1989, the People’s Liberation Army advanced with troops, tanks, and live ammunition to clear the square and surrounding areas, resulting in a violent crackdown. Hundreds (official Chinese figures around 200+ civilians plus security personnel; independent estimates commonly range from several hundred to over 2,000, with some higher) were killed, and many more were injured or arrested. The events are widely known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or June Fourth Incident.[3]

This is extensively documented by contemporary news reports (e.g., Washington Post on June 4, 1989), historical timelines from BBC and others, human rights organizations like Amnesty International, encyclopedic sources, and photographic/video evidence. The Chinese government refers to it as the suppression of a “counter-revolutionary riot” or “political turmoil” and maintains strict controls on discussion inside China, but the occurrence and timing in 1989 are not in serious historical dispute.