Today in history

1952: Birth of Vikram Seth, famous Indian novelist and poet. His novel A Suitable Boy is the longest novel ever written in the English language.

• 1756: The infamous Black Hole of Calcutta atrocity took place when Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal incarcerated 146 British prisoners. The room where the prisoners were confined was 18 feet long and 14 feet and 10 inches wide. It is said only 23 survived the ordeal.

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• 1789: In Versailles, France, the deputies of the Third Estate, which represented commoners and the lower clergy, met on the Jeu de Paume, an indoor tennis court, in defiance of King Louis XVI’s order to disperse. They took a historic oath not to disband until a new French constitution had been adopted. This is famous as the Tennis Court Oath.

• 1837: William IV died on this day. His niece Victoria became the Queen of England at the age of 18.

• 1900: In response to widespread foreign encroachment upon China’s national affairs, Chinese

nationalists launch the so-called Boxer Rebellion in Peking. Calling themselves I Ho Ch'uan, or “the Righteous and Harmonious Fists,” the nationalists occupied Peking. They killed several Westerners, including German ambassador Baron von Ketteler. They also besieged the foreign legations in the diplomatic quarter of the city.

• 1952: Birth of Vikram Seth, famous Indian novelist and poet. His novel A Suitable Boy is the longest novel ever written in the English language.