The marka (marka polska, abbreviated mp, plural marki, marek) was the currency of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Republic of Poland between 1917 and 1924. It was subdivided into 100 fenigow (singular fenig), much like its German original after which it was modelled (see German mark).

During the Great War, in 1915, after defeating the Russians, the Central Powers occupied the whole territory of the former Congress Poland and appointed two Governors General: a German (Hans Hartwig von Beseler) in Warsaw and an Austro-Hungarian (Karl Kuk) in Lublin. The civil administration of the country was laid into the hands of imported German (mostly Prussian) and Austrian (mostly Polish) officials. Four currencies circulated: the Russian ruble, the German Papiermark, the German Ostruble and the Austro-Hungarian krone. On December 9 the following year, after consultations with the Austrians, the chief of the German Administration, Wolfgang von Kries proclaimed the foundation of a new bank, called the Polish Loan Bank (Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa) and the creation of a new currency unit, the marka, equivalent to the German mark. The stability of the new currency was guaranteed by the German Reichsbank up to the amount of 1 billion mark.

Marek "The Punisher" Piotrowski (born 14 August 1964 in Dębe Wielkie near Mińsk Mazowiecki) is a Polish retired heavyweight kickboxer and boxer. He is a former ten time kickboxing world champion.

As a young boy Piotrowski studied jujutsu before becoming interested in Kyokushin karate. In 1984 he won the Polish Juniors karate championship, following this up the next year by winning the Polish Senior championship. He became a karate black belt 1st dan in July 1993. His official karate record is 13 fights, with 13 victories.

At the beginning of 1987 Piotrowski began to focus on kickboxing, in particular full-contact, which was prohibited in Poland at the time. On 11 October 1987 he entered the 81 kg category of the 6th W.A.K.O. World Championships, a tournament for amateur kickboxers, held in Munich, Germany. Piotrowski won the competition defeating Hungarian Károly Halász in the final. Later that year he entered and won the Full Contact Kickboxing World Cup '87 in Budapest, Hungary and also won the Polish national kickboxing title. He had several more fights in 1988 in Poland and Europe, amassing a 17-0 amateur kickboxing record.

Marek Grechuta (December 10, 1945 Zamość, Poland - October 9, 2006 Kraków, Poland) was a Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and lyricist.

Born in Zamość, he studied architecture at Cracow University of Technology. Here he met the composer Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, with whom he founded the student cabaret Anawa in 1967. In the same year he was awarded second place in the VI National Contest of Student Musicians (VI Ogólnopolski Konkurs Piosenkarzy Studenckich) and also received an award for Tango Anawa, with lyrics by him and music by Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz. In 1968 he won several awards at the Festival of Polish Music in Opole. In 1969 he played a minor role in Andrzej Wajda's film Polowanie na muchy (Hunting Flies). In 1971 he left Anawa and founded the band WIEM (W Innej Epoce Muzycznej, In a Different Musical Epoch).

Grechuta scored a large number of popular hits, with his songs often characterized by use of poetic and literary elements. He co-authored, along with P. Birula and K. Szwajgier, the music for Exodus (written by L. A. Moczulski) at the STU Theatre in Kraków (1974), and co-wrote the musical adaptation of Stanisław Witkiewicz's Szalona lokomotywa (The Crazy Locomotive) with K. Jasiński and J. K. Pawluśkiewicz in 1977. In 2003 he collaborated with the group Myslovitz and re-recorded their older song Kraków. His song Dni, których nie znamy (The Days We Don't Know Yet) is the anthem of the football club Korona Kielce.

David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, comic book artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery, and meticulous sound design. The surreal, and in many cases violent, elements to his films have earned them the reputation that they "disturb, offend or mystify" their audiences.

Born to a middle class family in Missoula, Montana, Lynch spent his childhood traveling around the United States, before going on to study painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he first made the transition to producing short films. Deciding to devote himself more fully to this medium, he moved to Los Angeles, where he produced his first motion picture, the surrealist horror Eraserhead (1977). After Eraserhead became a cult classic on the midnight movie circuit, Lynch was employed to direct The Elephant Man (1980), from which he gained mainstream success. Then being employed by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, he proceeded to make two films: the science-fiction epic Dune (1984), which proved to be a critical and commercial failure, and then a neo-noir crime film, Blue Velvet (1986), which was highly critically acclaimed.