The memorial plaque for Radio Free Hungary was installed in the building of the broadcasting station Radio Hungary in 1989. The first large-scale demonstrations marking the start of the Revolution took place in Budapest on October 23, 1956. Students from the Budapest universities had drawn up a 16 point programme which they wanted to have broadcasted over national radio. However, this plan was not successful, and instead a speech was read from the Party Secretary Ernő Gerő, who condemned the political rallies and threatened to introduce heavy sanctions. In order to secure the broadcasting station, units from the National Security Services ÁHV were sent to the location during the late afternoon. Despite this demonstration of power, the first battles between demonstrators and state forces ensued in front of the building during the course of the evening. The main demand placed upon the radio broadcaster still remained the transmission of the 16 point programme over the airwaves. As this request was still rejected, the conflict worsened. In the interim, it was possible for the demonstrators to obtain weapons due to the efforts of sympathizing soldiers and policemen. Under circumstances unclear to this day, the first shots of the Revolution were fired from the radio broadcasting building. This was the catalyst for the armed resistance which spread during the following hours. The fierce battles around the radio station continued throughout the night. During the nighttime hours of October 24th, the first Soviet tanks had arrived in Budapest, and some of these were brought into position to protect the radio station. The demonstrators were nonetheless successful in bringing the building under their control during the morning of October 24th. However, the radio broadcaster had since been transferred to the Parliament Building. In the early morning hours of October 25th, the radio broadcasting building – heavily damaged by the battles of the past hours – was retaken by Hungarian and Soviet combat units.