Tank Man Tiananmen Tank Man (English tank man), also known as the rebel unknown (the unknown rebel) is the nickname that was attributed to an anonymous man who became internationally famous when recorded and photographed standing front of a line of several tanks during the revolt of 1989 Tiananmen Square in China. The image was taken on 5 June 1989 for at least three photographers from the balcony of the Beijing Hotel, next to Tiananmen Square: Americans Jeff Widener, for the Associated Press (AP), Charlie Cole, for the magazine ” Newsweek “, and Britain’s Stuart Franklin of Magnum for Time magazine. Widener’s photograph (shown here) is one of the most recognized, and was taken with a Nikon and a 300 mm lens from a balcony about 200 yards from the scene. The night before the photographer had been assaulted and beaten by Chinese police who seized the material caught in the crackdown on students.So shortly after taking the pictures of man before the tank, he hid the spool in the toilet. And despite a search of his room, he managed to take the picture and send it to your writing. Photography and filming of the man standing alone in front of the line of tanks, was broadcast that evening. He started in hundreds of newspapers and magazines, and the main headline in many news around the world. In April 1998, Time magazine included the “Unknown Rebel” in its list of the hundred most influential people of the twentieth century.