August 31, 1980: The Gdańsk Agreement

August 31, 1980: The Gdańsk Agreement is reached. The accord, signed by government representative Mieczysław Jagielski and strike leader Lech Wałęsa, led to the creation of the trade union Solidarność (meaning "Solidarity"), and was an important milestone in the fall of Communist rule in Poland.

That Summer, faced with a major economic crisis, the Polish government authorized a rise in food prices, which immediately led to a wave of strikes and factory occupations across the country. On August 14, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk went on strike. Thanks to popular support within the country, the workers held out until the government gave in to their demands, and an agreement was formalized on August 31.

In the aftermath of the strike, Solidarity emerged as an independent trade union and rapidly grew, ultimately claiming over 10 million members nationwide and establishing itself as a major force in Polish politics.

If any one man "won the Cold War," Wałęsa could be the one, because he showed the Soviet Union what a real "workers' revolution" looked like. And forced American conservatives to praise the leader of a labor union.

UPDATE: Time magazine named Wałęsa its Man of the Year for 1981, following his arrest and the imposition of martial law in Poland. He was held for 11 months. Following the 2025 death of Apollo 8 astronaut James Lovell, Wałęsa became the earliest living Time Man (or "Person") of the Year.

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August 31, 1980 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played: 

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 1-0 at Yankee Stadium. Luis Tiant pitched 8 shutout innings, then manager Dick Howser brought Ron Guidry in to pitch the 9th, and an error by Willie Randolph does him in. Floyd Bannister (5 hits over 5 1/3rd innings) and future Yankee Shane Ralwey (1 over 3 2/3rds) combined on a 6-hit shutout. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4.

* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the San Francisco Giants, 11-4 and 9-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski did not play. Rookie Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 5-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Scott McGregor pitched a 3-hit shutout. Eddie Murray went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rod Carew went 0-for-3.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-1 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Willie Stargell did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians, 10-8 and 8-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 8-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Astros scored a run in the top of the 9th to take a 7-5 lead, but the Cubs scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. 

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-3 at San Diego Stadium (soon to be renamed Jack Murphy Stadium). Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3 with a walk. Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Montreal Expos, 2-0 and 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Jerry Reuss pitched a 4-hit shutout in the 1st game.

June 4, 1989: Poland's Free Elections

Tadeusz Mazowiecki

June 4, 1989: The Republic of Poland holds its 1st parliamentary election since 1938. It is considered the beginning of the Eastern European revolutions of the year.

Like many countries, Poland has a bicameral legislature. The Sejm is the lower house, equivalent to America's House of Representatives, or the House of Commons in Britain and its Commonwealth nations. As with America, Canada, and some other countries, the upper house is called the Senate.

After a genuine workers' revolution began to agitate the Polish United Workers Party, the Polish version of the Communist Party, in 1980, the Communists allowed multi-party elections on April 5, 1989, set for June 4. On April 17, Solidarity (in Polish, Solidarność), the trade union led by Lech Wałęsa, was legalized, and allowed to participate in the elections as a political party, the Solidarity Citizens Committee.

Solidarity won 99 out of the 100 seats in the Senate. The United Workers Party won 173 seats in the Sejm, to Solidarity's 161 -- but that 161 was all of the seats that were available, as 299 seats were reserved for the Communists and other parties linked in the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth.

On August 24, the Communist cabinet of Czesław Kiszczak was rejected by the Sejm, forcing a vote for a new Prime Minister and cabinet on September 12. This was won by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who governed until January 4, 1991. Replacing the dictatorial Wojciech Jaruzelski, Wałęsa served as President of Poland, head of state but not head of government, from December 22, 1990 to December 22, 1995.

Mazowiecki lived until 2013, Jaruzelski until 2014, Kiszczak until 2015. As of June 4, 2022, Wałęsa is still alive.

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June 4, 1989 was a Sunday. This was also the day of the Tienanmen Square Massacre in Beijing, China. I have a separate entry for that event.

It was the off-season for the NFL. The NHL season was over, as the Stanley Cup was awarded on May 25, as the Calgary Flames beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Finals. And the NBA was between the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. The Detroit Pistons went on to sweep the Los Angeles Lakers in 4 straight.

But there was a full slate of Major League Baseball games:

* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 12-9 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jesse Barfield hit 2 home runs, and homers were also hit by Steve Balboni, Mel Hall and... Deion Sanders. Yes, the football player. Jimmy Jones was the winning pitcher.

* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Shea Stadium. Kevin Elster and Mark Carreon hit home runs, in support of Sid Fernandez, but Don Aase (AH-see) ended up as the winning pitcher.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-11 at Fenway Park in Boston. Junior Felix won the game with a home run in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Scott, usually a starting pitcher, was relieving in the 13th inning, and hit a sacrifice fly to score Rafael Ramirez.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-1 at Anaheim Stadium. (Today, the team is named the Los Angeles Angels, and the ballpark is named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.)

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dave Stewart itched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, but A's manager Tony La Russa was the original pitch-count guy. Todd Burns allowed a hit in a scoreless 8th, and Rick Honeycutt pitched a perfect 9th.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.