Many saw Hu as a reformer. He had the support of students, who wanted the Chinese government to continue his pro-market and pro-democracy policies.
Following Hu's official state funeral, some 100,000 students gathered in the Beijing's central square.
The People's Liberation Army (China's military) marched on Beijing, only to withdraw a few days later. Protesters would lecture the soldiers, asking them to join their cause.
Other numbers, ranging into the thousands, have circulated, with none confirmed. Many of the deaths happened outside the square, with soldiers firing directly at unarmed protesters.
(Source: PBS)
This shot shows the man from another angle. He was reportedly whisked aside by onlookers, but it was unclear what became of him or who he was.
(Source: PBS)
Tens of thousands of people were arrested after the protests, and an unknown number were likely executed.
(Source: PBS)
Officially China still tries to ignore the legacy of the event, with searches on the popular Chinese microblogging site Weibo banned today.
(Source: BI)
Around this time last year, five Chinese dissidents testified before U.S. lawmakers about the horror of seeing friends shot dead 25 years ago.
(Source: USA Today)
Other Chinese people remember the massacre as it was filtered through the country's state-run TV stations.
(Source: New York Times)
The novelist Murong Xuecun has written that China's president President Xi Jinping may be more paranoid than those who came before him.
(Source: New York Times)
Despite the paranoia on mainland China, there were still relatively robust protests in Hong Kong last year. "We will never forget the Tiananmen massacre, because until now there's been no justice," one woman reportedly said while marching through Hong Kong.
(Source: ABC Radio)