The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)

On this day

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1756: Night of the Black Hole Of Calcutta. Some 146 English prisoners were put into an 18ft by 14ft cell on a hot June evening when the Nawab of Bengal captured Fort William. Only 23 survived the night.

1789: The seeds of the French Revolution were sown when a National Assembly was formed to oppose the domination of the aristocrac­y.

1819: Composer Jacques Offenbach – creator of Tales Of Hoffman and Orpheus In The Underworld – was born in Cologne. He lived and worked in France.

1909: Errol Flynn, above right, was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was swashbuckl­ing long before his film days as a deck-hand, prospector and policeman.

1927: Greyhound racing began at London’s White City stadium.

1949: American tennis player Gertrude “Gussie” Moran caused a sensation at Wimbledon by wearing lace-trimmed underwear under her short skirt, designed by Teddy Tinling.

1960: Nan Winton, above left, became the first woman to read the national news on BBC television.

1977: A pipeline carrying oil across Alaska was opened.

1990: The Agra Diamond was sold for a record £4,070,000 at Christie’s.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Michael Gove was eliminated from the Tory leadership contest in the final round of voting by MPs, leaving Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt battling to become the next prime minister.

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