1878

January 9 - Humbert I becomes King of Italy
January 28 - The Yale News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States.
February 2 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
February 11 - 1st US bicycle club, Boston Bicycle Club, forms.
February 11 - 1st weekly Weather report published in UK
February 18 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico
February 19 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison
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 regained its independence from Ottoman Empire.
March 24 - The UK frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.
May 15 - Tokyo Stock Exchange established
July 13 - The Treaty of Berlin makes Serbia 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 will be found later with a taunting poem inside.
September 3 - Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.
October 15 - The Edison Electric Company begins operation.
October 17 - John A. Macdonald returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
West Bromwich Albion F.C play their first match.

Year in topic

January 6 - Carl Sandburg, poet, historian (d. 1967)
January 12 - Ferenc MolnÃÂÃÂ¡r, author (d. 1952)
January 20 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer (d. 1968)
January 25 - Ernst Alexanderson, television pioneer
February 2 - AlfrÃÂÃÂ©d HajÃÂÃÂ³s, Hungarian swimmer
February 5 - AndrÃÂÃÂ© CitroÃÂÃÂ«n, automobile pioneer
February 8 - Martin Buber, philosopher
February 14 - Hirota Koki, Japanese prime minister (d. 1948)
March 16 - Clemens August Graf von Galen, archbishop of MÃÂÃÂ¼nster and cardinal (d. 1946)
March 22 - Michel Théato, Luxembourg athlete
March 27 - Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect
March 31 - Jack Johnson, the first African American to hold a boxing title.
April 6 - Erich MÃÂÃÂ¼hsam, German author (d. 1934)
April 24 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist
May 10 - Gustav Stresemann, politician and recipient of the Nobel Prize in peace 1926 (d. 1929)
May 26 - Isadora Duncan, dancer (d. 1927)
July 4 - George M. Cohan, singer, dancer, composer, actor, writer (d. 1942)
July 24 - Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish author
September 22 - Yoshida Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1967)
October 1 - Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist
December 25 - Louis Chevrolet, automobile builder (d. 1941)

China - GuāngxÃÂÃÂ¹ Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (1875-1908)
Denmark - Christian IX, King of Denmark (1863-1906)
France - Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, President of France (1873-1879)
Germany - Wilhelm I, German Kaiser (1871-1888)
Holy See -
1. Pope Pius IX, Bishop of Rome (1846-1878)
2. Pope Leo XIII, Bishop of Rome (1878-1903)
Japan - Mutsuhito, Meiji emperor (1867-1912)
Norway - Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway (1872-1905)
Ottoman Empire - Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909)
Russia - Alexander II, Tsar of Russia (1855-1881)
Spain - Alfonso XII of Spain, King of Spain (1875-1885)
United States - Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States (1877-1881)