The New York registered passenger ship William Nelson had left Antwerp in Belgium bound for New York on June 2, 1865 with 550 passengers and crew aboard.  Twenty-four days into the voyage sickness was discovered and a morning fumigation with tar pots was ordered. An accident with these set the ship afire. Hundreds perished but three boats with survivors were picked up over the next hours. (By John Osborne) 

The British Parliament passes the Locomotive Act of 1865, setting speed limits for any locomotive operating of public roads.  Considered the world's first such limits, they applied to steam driven vehicles, like tractors, but would also be applied later to automobiles of any kind. Vehicles were limited to four miles an hour on public roads, two miles per hour in towns, and a man with a red flag was required to walk ahead sixty yards at all times. A new act adjusted these restrictions in 1878. (By John Osborne) 

Rear-Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, a leading naval leader in the recent war, and the architect of one of the North's first naval victories at Port Royal, South Carolina in November 1861, died suddenly while on a visit to Philadelphia from his home in Delaware. Removed from command in 1863 after a failed naval attack on Charleston, he was later vindicated and DuPont Circle in Washington D.C. was named in his honor in 1882.  (By John Osborne)

Seventy-one year-old South Carolina native Edmund Ruffin, one of the most vocal of secessionist "fireeaters" and the man often credited with firing the first shot at Fort Sumter in 1861, shot himself to death in his study after breakfast at his plantation home of "Redmoor" in Amelia County, Virginia. His final diary entry condemned the "perfidious, malignant, & vile Yankee race." (By John Osborne)

As his troops occupied Galveston, Union General Gorgon Granger proclaimed that slavery was at an end and that all African-Americans were to be henceforth accorded "equality of personal rights and right of property."  Actual emancipation took some time in the state, however, as federal officials regained control. But the date remains and is today celebrated as "Juneteenth." (By John Osborne)

In a torrential rain, Philadelphia troops, with General George Meade at their head, passed in review before Governor Curtin and Philadelphia Mayor Henry in Penn Square in the city. After a reception at the Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, one of its last before closing, the troops were dismissed.  (By John Osborne)