In southern England, forty-six tons of gunpowder explodes and kills thirteen people

Just before seven o'clock in the morning, a massive explosion took place on the banks of the Thames fifteen miles downriver from central London when the stores of two neighboring private gunpowder storage and shipping depots ignited.  More than 46 tons of powder were believed to have gone up while loading was underway at a jetty, leading some as far away as the capital to fear an earthquake.  The area was mostly marshland and so wider casualties were limited to workers and their families but thirteen lives were lost. (By John Osborne)