Former governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew died of a sudden stroke in the afternoon of this day at his home in Boston.  One of the most prominent Republican "War Governors," he had been sworn in just before the outbreak of Civil War and served throughout the conflict.  He was tirelessly supportive of the Union cause and a strong advocate of the enlistment of African-American soldiers for combat in the Union Army.  More moderate after the war and initially in support of President Johnson's version of Reconstruction, he largely retired from politics and resumed his law career until his untimely death at age forty-nine.  (By John Osborne)  

Michael Faraday, one of the leading scientists of the century and the inventor of the electric generator, died at his home on the outskirts of London. Among Faraday's remarkable achievements over a lifetime of enquiry were numerous breakthroughs in chemistry, physics, and environmental science.  He also devoted large amounts of his energies to education and his lectures were world-famous.  He turned down burial in Westminster Abbey and is interred in Highgate Cemetery.  He was seventy-five years old.  (By John Osborne)

For the second time during 1867, the English town of Faversham suffered a fatal explosion at the local gunpowder works.  This event was even more serious than that of the previous April that killed four workers.  This time a massive explosion obliterated works buildings, caused heavy damage to the town itself, broke windows in Canterbury ten miles away, and killed eleven men. The explosion was touched off at eleven in the morning and completely destroyed three buildings at the works, killing everyone working in them.  The cause of the blast was never discovered.  (By John Osborne)  

In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a merchant was discovered to have purchased a supply of nitroglycerin, the new alternative to gunpowder, and had now found it in an unstable state.  The Sheriff of Newcastle, a ceremonial position, happened to be a student of chemistry and took charge of the disposal of the explosive materials which were to be buried outside of the the town.  During the disposal, a significant portion of the cache exploded suddenly, killing five officials and carters immediately and mortally wounding two others, including the Sheriff John Mawson and the town surveyor.  (By John Osborne).  

Irish nationalists made an attempt to free two of their Fenian comrades by blowing up a section of Clerkenwell Prison in central London.  At a quarter to four in the afternoon, a sizeable explosive device leveled a section of the prison's twenty-five foot high and twenty-seven inch thick northern wall on Corporation Road.  Scores of bystanders, along with inmates of the prison, were injured and four people killed. The target had been the exercise yard but authorities had apparently been alerted and the Fenian prisoners were kept in their cells that afternoon. The escape failed and three people were almost immediately arrested.  (By John Osborne)

Her Majesty's Theatre in London's Haymarket was completely destroyed on this day by a late evening fire with the loss of priceless collections of costumes and stagings.  It was the second theatre on the site and opened in 1792 as the largest opera house in England.  It was famous for its championing of the genre in London, even after the opening of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1847.  Handel had personally debuted several of his operas there and the most famous of Mozart's offerings had seen their first performances on its stage. The theater was rebuilt the following year but never regained its earlier prominence. (By John Osborne)