Black Hole of Calcutta

Black Hole of Calcutta, prison cell in which 146 British captives were incarcerated on the night of June 20, 1756, after a battle between British and Indian troops during which the Indian forces captured a British fort. Some of the prisoners suffocated in the 14 ft (4.3 m) by 18 ft (5.5 m) room. John Holwell, a British survivor, alleged that 123 of the 146 had died, but subsequent research suggests that there were probably about 15 deaths.