ON THIS DAY

49 years ago ( 1971)

We announced that war had erupted between India and Pakistan after the latter launched a series of pre- emptive air strikes on eight key Indian airbases.

An estimated 300,000 to three million people died in the 13- day conflict and a further eight to 10 million fled to India.

The war ended with Pakistan’s surrender and the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan.

71 years ago ( 1949)

The British Governor of Sarawak, Malaysia, Duncan Stewart, was stabbed by two youths from a political group which demanded the end of British colonial rule and union with the newly independent Indonesia.

He died six days later from his wounds.

59 years ago ( 1961)

The contraceptive pill became available on the NHS to married women ushering in women’s liberation and the so- called Swinging Sixties.

Developed in the US in the 1950s, the Pill combined the hormones oestrogen and progestin and was offered to all women in 1967.