15 April, 1989 - Hu Yaobang dies due to illness
First students arrive at Tiananmen to protest.
One week after - 100,000 students marched into Tiananmen Square, a protest in honour of the man’s sympathy for student protests
26 April - Government editorials denounce student leaders as lier
4 May - The press joins the protests
12 May - Professors from Beijing University supported the hunger strike and offered a banquet as a ‘last meal’. Some students made their final will then as well.
13 May - Several hundred students begin a hunger strike
14 May - Elected student representatives begin formal talks with the government. But the broadcast was not materialised and thus the talks break down.
15 May - Gorbachev arrives in Beijing for the first Sino-Soviet summit since 1959. The welcome plan for Gorbachev at Tiananmen Square is cancelled
16 May - High ranking communist leader comes to talk with them
17 May - Largest demonstration - 2 - 3 million people.
18 May - Several student leaders are summoned by Li Peng for a televised talk at the Great Hall of the People, but nothing is achieved.
19 May - Hunger strike is called off due to leaked information about the government’s plan for martial law. A mass sit-in is declared.
20 May - Martial law was declared in Beijing
23 May - Troops pull back to the outskirts of Beijing.
24 May - The Defend Tiananmen Square Headquarters is set up.
30 May - The Goddess of Democracy is unveiled.
2 June - Liu Xiaobo and others start a hunger strike at 5 pm
3 June - Troops are ordered to reclaim Tiananment Square at all cost. They begin to open fire upon people blocking the advancement of the army and also on people who are just shouting at the troops. Tanks and armoured vehicles move towards the centre of the city.
4 June - 1 am, troops surround Tiananment Square and wait for orders
4 am, Liu Xiaobo and the other three men who began the second hunger strike negotiate with the troops to allow the students to leave the Square.
5 am, thousands of students, teachers and supporters leave the Square at gunpoint.
During this period of time, troops shoot two waves of fire.
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