On this day

1492: The Spanish army recaptured Granada from the Moors.

1757: Clive of India captured Calcutta after it had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal. The latter imprisoned 146 British prisoners in the notorious ‘black hole’. Only 23 survived.

1932: The Japanese set up the republic of Manchukuo after occupying Manchuria. 1946: King Zog was deposed as ruler of Albania.

1947: Cupro-nickel coins were issued by the British Mint to replace silver.

1952: Pope Pius XII declared that television was a threat to family life.

1971: Sixty-six people were crushed to death when a barrier collapsed at Glasgow Rangers’s Ibrox Park ground.

1974: Tex Ritter, American singing cowboy of stage and screen, died. He sang the title song for the classic western High Noon. 1987: The publishers of Enid Blyton’s Noddy books bowed to pressure groups and agreed to expunge all ‘racism’ from them.

2011: Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite died after a long fight with cancer.