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 Plovdiv: 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

• 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 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 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 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 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.

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.

• Otto von Bismarck 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

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

• *Egbert Van Alstyne, United States songwriter and pianist (d. 1951)

• *Peter D. Ouspensky, Russian philosopher (d. 1947)

• *Arishima Takeo, Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayist (d. 1923)

• 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

• *Lionel Barrymore, American actor (d. 1954)

• *Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (d. 1951)

• 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)

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 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

• *Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born race driver and automobile builder (d. 1941)

• *Joseph Schenck, Russian-born film executive (d. 1961)

• 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

• *Robert Stirling, Scottish clergyman and inventor (b. 1790)

• *Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, Marshal of France (b. 1795)

• *Porter Rockwell, Mormon bodyguard (b. 1815)

• June 12

• *George V of Hanover (b. 1819)

• *Hendrik Jut, Dutch murderer (b. 1851)

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)