In 1989, student activists in Beijing wanted their voices heard by the Chinese government. Their protests began after the death of Hu Yaobang, who died on April 15, 1989. Hu Yaobang was the former General Secretary of the Communist Party, who was eventually pushed out because of his work in trying to liberalize Chinese politics. His reformed views to overturn the Maoist era gained the attention of many pro-democracy students and upon his death, took to the streets. They wanted to communicate to the government their demands for democratic reforms, which included ending strict censorship, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. The peaceful protests took place at Tiananmen Square and Tiananmen Tower, in which the translated meaning is "Gate of Heavenly Peace." However, as the non-violent protests grew larger in number, the Chinese government began to communicate their demands of disapproval and actually imposed martial law in May. When the protests continued despite these demands, military action was called upon. The dates of June 4th and June 5th ended in what is now called the "Tiananmen Square Massacre." Tanks and military soldiers stormed the square killing up to thousands (although the real number of deaths is still unknown). With strict government censorship and surveillance, Chinese activists/protesters needed to find creative ways to tell the world about the events that were taking place as well as organize undetected plans throughout the protest. Even today, many Chinese people in China and around the world are unaware of the event. Our topic was significant in history in relation to the NHD theme because the Chinese practically made a whole new language and used brilliant ways to communicate with each other on the massacre that happened over two decades ago while the Chinese communist party is trying to heavily silence and censor them. The topic, "The Tiananmen Square Massacre," influenced history because it spoke volumes to the world as an example for communicating demands for freedom!