1878
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
|---|---|
| Centuries: | 18th century – 19th century – 20th century |
| Decades: | 1840s 1850s 1860s – 1870s – 1880s 1890s 1900s |
| Years: | 1875 1876 1877 – 1878 – 1879 1880 1881 |
| 1878 in topic: |
| Subjects: Archaeology – Architecture – |
| Art – Literature (Poetry) – Music – Science |
| Sports – Rail Transport |
| Countries: Australia – Canada – China – France – Germany – Ireland – Mexico – Netherlands – New Zealand – Norway – South Africa – Spain – UK – USA |
| Leaders: State leaders – Colonial governors |
| Category: Establishments – Disestablishments |
| Births – Deaths – Works |
1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar).
Contents |
Events of 1878
January–March
January – Cleopatra's Needle.
- January – Cleopatra's Needle arrives in London.
- January 5 – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire.
- January 9 – Humbert I becomes King of Italy.
- January 17 – Battle of Philippopolis: Russian troops defeat the Turks.
- January 23 – Benjamin Disraeli orders the British fleet to the Dardanelles.
- January 24 – The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
- January 28 – The Yale News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.
- January 31 – Turkey agrees to an armistice at Adrianople.
- February 2 – Greece declares war on Turkey.
- February 7 – Pope Pius IX dies after 32 year reign.
- February 8 – The British fleet enters Turkish waters and anchors off Istanbul; Russia threatens to occupy Istanbul but does not carry out the threat.
- February 18 – The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
- February 19 – The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.
- February 20 – Pope Leo XIII succeeds Pope Pius IX as the 256th pope.
- February 24 – Anti-Russian demonstrations occur in Hyde Park, London.
- February 28 – Mississippi State University is created by the Mississippi Legislature (under the name The Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi).
- March 3
- Bulgaria regains its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
- The Treaty of San Stefano concludes the Russo-Turkish War
Year 1878
- March 24 – The UK frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.
- March 25 – Russia rejects a British proposal to lay the San Stefano treaty before a European congress.
- March 27 – In anticipation of war with Russia, Disraeli mobilizes the reserves and calls up Indian troops to Malta.
April–June
- April 20 – The Stawell Gift is run for the first time.
- May 2 – The Washburn "A" Mill in Minneapolis, Minnesota explodes, killing 18.
- May 15 – The Tokyo Stock Exchange is established
- June 1 – Universal Postal Union (UPU)
- June 4 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains the nominal title.
- June 10 – The League of Prizren is established.
- June 12 – July 12 – The Congress of Berlin convenes to discuss the Ottoman Empire.
- June 20 – U.S. Coastal Survey renamed U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
- June 22 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld leaves Karlskrona on a voyage that will make him the first to navigate the Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Siberian coast.
July–September
- July 4 – a match race between champion thoroughbred racehorses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty draws more than 30,000 fans to Louisville and insprires the folk song, Molly and Tenbrooks.
- July 13 – The Treaty of Berlin makes Serbia, Montenegro and Romania completely independent.
- July 26 – In California, the poet and American West outlaw calling himself "Black Bart" makes his last clean getaway when he steals a safe box from a Wells Fargo stagecoach. The empty box is found later with a taunting poem inside.
- August 9 – The Wallingford Tornado of 1878, the deadliest tornado in Connecticut history, destroys the town of Wallingford, killing 34 people and injuring 70 or more.
- September 3 – Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.
- September 20 – The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, is founded.
- September 30 – The ship Priscilla arrives in Hawaii from Funchal, Madeira, marking the beginning of the Portuguese immigration to the Hawaiian Islands (1878–1913).
October–December
- October 1 – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) opens as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.
- October 14 – The world's first recorded floodlit football fixture is played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.
- October 17 – John A. Macdonald returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- November 17 – The first assassination attempt is made against Umberto I of Italy.
- November 21 – The Second Afghan War commences when the British attack Ali Masjid in the Khyber Pass.
Ongoing events
- 1876–1879 – Great North China Famine: ten million die.
- 1876–1878 – Famine and cholera in India: six million die.
Undated
- Yellow fever in Mississippi Valley kills over 13,000.
- U.S. arbitration rejects Argentine claims to Paraguay's part of the Chaco region.
- Otto von Bismarck abandons his Kulturkampf and forces through legislation outlawing the Social Democrats.
Foundations
- Ipswich Town Football Club is formed as an amateur club. Known as Ipswich A.F.C they did not turn professional until 1936.
- The Buchan School, Isle of Man
- Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club, the team that would become Manchester United
- Everton Football Club, then known as St Domingo
- Grimsby Town FC then known as Grimsby Pelham
- Geiger (Corporation) initially known as Geiger Brothers.
- Nainital Cantonment
- The West Bromwich Albion F.C. plays their first match.
- The Johns Hopkins University Press, America's oldest university press, was established.
Births
| Gregorian calendar | 1878 MDCCCLXXVIII |
| Ab urbe condita | 2631 |
| Armenian calendar | 1327 ԹՎ ՌՅԻԷ |
| Bahá'í calendar | 34 – 35 |
| Bengali calendar | 1285 |
| Berber calendar | 2828 |
| Buddhist calendar | 2422 |
| Burmese calendar | 1240 |
| Byzantine calendar | 7386 – 7387 |
| Chinese calendar | 丁丑年十一月廿八日 (4514/4574-11-28) — to —
戊寅年十二月初八日(4515/4575-12-8) |
| Coptic calendar | 1594 – 1595 |
| Ethiopian calendar | 1870 – 1871 |
| Hebrew calendar | 5638 – 5639 |
| Hindu calendars | |
| - Bikram Samwat | 1934 – 1935 |
| - Shaka Samvat | 1800 – 1801 |
| - Kali Yuga | 4979 – 4980 |
| Holocene calendar | 11878 |
| Iranian calendar | 1256 – 1257 |
| Islamic calendar | 1294 – 1296 |
| Japanese calendar | Meiji 11 (明治11年) |
| Korean calendar | 4211 |
| Thai solar calendar | 2421 |
January–June
- January 6 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
- January 12 – Ferenc Molnár, author (d. 1952)
- January 22 – Constance Collier, stage & screen actress (d. 1955)
- January 25 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-born television pioneer (d. 1975)
- February 1 – Milan Hodža, Slovak politician, champion of regional integration in Europe (d. 1944)
- February 2 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer and architect (d. 1955)
- February 5 – André Citroën, French automobile manufacturer (d. 1935)
- February 8 – Martin Buber, Austrian philosopher (d. 1965)
- February 14 – Hirota Koki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
- February 21 – The Mother (Mirra Alfassa), multi-origined spiritual leader and founder of Auroville in India (d. 1973)
- February 26 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano (d. 1930)
- February 28 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929)
- March 4
- March 16 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German Catholic cardinal (d. 1946)
- March 22 – Michel Théato, Luxembourg athlete (d. 1919)
- March 31 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
- April 6 – Erich Mühsam, German author (d. 1934)
- April 24 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
- April 28
- May 3 – Cruz Hernandez, unverified claimant to be world's oldest person (d. 2007)
- May 10 – Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
- May 25 – Bill Robinson, African American tap dancer (d. 1949)
- May 26 – Isadora Duncan, American dancer (d. 1927)
- May 28 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist (d. 1945)
- June 1 – John Masefield, English poet and novelist (d. 1967)
- June 3 – Barney Oldfield, American automobile racer and pioneer (d. 1946)
- June 5 – Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1923)
- June 12 – James Oliver Curwood, American writer and conservationist (d. 1927)
July–December
- July 4 – George M. Cohan, American singer, dancer, composer, actor, and writer (d. 1942)
- July 12 – Peeter Põld, Estonian pedagogical scientist and politician (d. 1930)
- July 24 – Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish author (d. 1957)
- August 10 – Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)
- August 28 – George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)
- August 31 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933)
- September 5 – Robert von Lieben, Austrian physicist (d. 1913)
- September 13 – Matilde Moisant, American pilot (d. 1964)
- September 20 – Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968)
- September 22 – Yoshida Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1967)
- September 24 – C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (d. 1947)
- October 1 – Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist (d. 1950)
- October 9 – Robert Warwick, American stage & screen actor (d. 1964)
- October 16 – Maxey Long, American athlete (d. 1959)
- November 1 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1959)
- November 14 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet (d. 1957)
- Julie Manet, French painter (d. 1966)
- November 17 – Grace Abbott, American social worker and activist (d. 1939)
- November 23 – Ernest Joseph King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations (COMINCH-CNO) during World War II (d. 1956)
- December 10 – C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. (d. 1972)
- December 18 – Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d.1953)
- December 25
- December 28 – Nikolai Bryukhanov, Soviet statesman and political figure who served as People's Commissar of Finances (d. 1938)
- December 31 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-born beautician and cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 1966)
- December 31 – Horacio Quiroga, Argentinian writer (d. 1937)
Deaths
January–June
- January 8 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821)
- January 9 – King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
- January 18 – Antoine César Becquerel, French scientist (b. 1788)
- February 7 – Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
- February 11 – Gideon Welles, American politician (b. 1802)
- February 19 – Charles-Francois Daubigny, French painter (b. 1817)
- February 26 – Angelo Secchi, Italian astronomer (b. 1818)
- March 8 – Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (b. 1802)
- April 8 – Henrietta Treffz, soprano, first wife of Johann Strauss II (b. 1818)
- April 12 – William Marcy Tweed, American politician (b. 1823)
- April 25 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
- May 28 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
- June 6
- June 12
July–December
- July 1 – Catherine Winkworth, English translator of hymns (b. 1827)
- July 17 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812)
- July 23 – Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, Bohemian pathologist, philosopher and politician (b. 1804)
- August 30 – James Geiss, English businessman (b. 1820)
- November 20 – William Thomas (Islwyn), Welsh poet (b. 1832)
- November 28 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader (b. 1805)
- December 10 – Henry Wells, American businessman (b. 1805)
- December 14 – Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (b. 1843)
Fictional
- The Doctor Who novel Imperial Moon takes place in 1878.