This day is the National Day of Hungary and marks the anniversary of the start of the 1848 Revolution against the Austrian Empire. It is one of three national public holidays in Hungary (the other two falling on 23 October and 20 August). On this day in 1848, the poet of the revolution, Sandor Petőfi, and his fellow patriots publicly recited the Nemzeti dal (National Song) and declared a list of demands for democratic rights, now known as the ‘12 Points of the Pest Revolution’, which is among the nation’s most important texts.