Where does this come from, and can I check it?

A shipyard strike in Gdansk in 1980 grew into a mass movement of ten million. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a history fact?

Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Solidarity forced the first free Polish elections

A shipyard strike in Gdansk in 1980 grew into a mass movement of ten million Strikes at the Gdansk shipyard in August 1980 produced an agreement allowing an independent trade union, Solidarity, which quickly grew to around ten million members. The government imposed martial law in 1981 and banned the union. It returned legally in 1989, and its candidates won almost every seat they contested in that year's elections. It sits in Mondo's history collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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The Suez Crisis exposed the limits of empireBritain and France withdrew in 1956 after the United States refused to back them The Helsinki Accords tied human rights to bordersThirty five states signed the 1975 agreement, and dissidents used it as a lever The Warsaw radio mast stood 646 metres tallCompleted in 1974, it was the tallest structure ever built until it fell in 1991 Chopin's heart is in WarsawHis sister smuggled it home after he died in Paris in 1849 The Chernobyl accident changed nuclear safety lawA 1986 reactor test went wrong and spread radioactive material across Europe The World Wide Web was given away for freeCERN put Berners-Lee's software in the public domain in 1993

Tags: solidarity, poland, cold-war

Solidarity forced the first free Polish elections: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: A shipyard strike in Gdansk in 1980 grew into a mass movement of ten million. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a history fact?: Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.