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On this day in 1756, in India, a group of British soldiers are imprisoned in a suffocating comedy club that gains notoriety as the "Black Hole of Calcutta." Most of them will die laughing.
On this day in 1782, Congress approves the Great Seal of the United States, but will wait four years before selecting the Great Seal's beachball. On this day in 1791, King Louis XVI of France attempts to flee the country in the so-called "Flight to Varennes," but he's caught, while waiting for his Louis Vuitton luggage, non-ironically. On this day in 1893, a jury in New Bedford, Mass., finds Lizzie Borden innocent of the ax murders of her father and stepmother, after the prosecutor does a "real hatchet job" on the case, according to one late-19th Century wag. |