BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA

the name later given to the tiny room in Calcutta, India, in which 146 British prisoners, including one woman, were put by the Indian leader who captured them on 20 June 1756. The next morning only 22 men and the woman were still alive, though some Indian sources of information say that far fewer people were involved. People sometimes talk about a small dark room without fresh air as being ‘like the Black Hole of Calcutta’.