Famous birthdays, deaths and events of 1878
Birthdays January 6 - Dame Adeline Genée, Danish-British ballerina (d. 1970) January 12 - Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian writer (d. 1952) January 13 - Lionel Groulx, Canadian nationalist (d. 1967) January 16 - Harry Carey, American silent film actor (d. 1947) January 20 - Finlay Currie, British actor (d. 1968) January 20 - Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968) January 30 - Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (d. 1940) February 2 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955) February 16 - Pamela Colman Smith, artist February 28 - Artur Kapp, Estonian composer (d. 1952) March 4 - Egbert Van Alstyne, American songwriter and pianist (d. 1951) March 4 - Arishima Takeo, Japanese novelist March 22 - Michel Théato, Luxembourgian athlete (d. 1919) March 23 - Franz Schreker, Austrian composer (d. 1934) March 31 - Jack Johnson , American boxer (d. 1946) April 6 - Erich Mühsam, German author (d. 1934) April 15 - Robert Walser, Swiss writer (d. 1956) April 16 - Tip Foster, English cricketer (d. 1914) April 27 - Frank Alvin Gotch, American professional wrestler (d. 1917) April 28 - Lionel Barrymore, American actor (d. 1954) May 10 - Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany May 27 - Isadora Duncan, American dancer (d. 1927) May 28 - Paul Pelliot, French sinologist (d. 1945) May 30 - Mike Donlin, American baseball player (d. 1933) June 1 - John Masefield, English novelist and poet (d. 1967) June 3 - Barney Oldfield, American race car driver (d. 1946) July 3 - George M. Cohan, American actor July 6 - Eino Leino, Finnish poet (d. 1926) July 8 - Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945) July 24 - Lord Dunsany, Irish writer (d. 1957) July 29 - Don Marquis, American author (d. 1937) August 2 - Aino Kallas, Finnish August 10 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957) August 17 - Reggie Duff, Australian cricketer (d. 1911) August 31 - Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933) September 9 - Adelaide Crapsey, American poet (d. 1914) September 20 - Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968) September 24 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (d. 1947) October 5 - Louise Dresser, American actress (d. 1965) October 13 - Patrick Joseph Hartigan, Australian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1952) October 16 - Maxey Long, American athlete (d. 1959) November 10 - Cy Morgan, American baseball player (d. 1962) November 14 - Leopold Staff, Polish poet (d. 1957) November 17 - Grace Abbott, American social worker (d. 1939) November 21 - Gustav Radbruch, German law professor (d. 1949) November 26 - Marshall Taylor, American cyclist (d. 1932) November 27 - Jatindramohan Bagchi, Indian (Bengali) poet (d.1948). December 15 - Hans Carossa, German writer (d. 1956) December 18 - Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953) December 25 - Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born race car driver (d. 1941) December 31 - Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (d. 1966) December 31 - Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan-Argentinian writer (d. 1937)
Deaths January 8 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821) January 19 - Henri Victor Regnault French physicist and chemist, (b. 1810) April 4 - Richard Brewer, American gunslinger/cowboy (b. 1850) April 12 - William Marcy Tweed, aka Boss Tweed April 25 - Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820) May 28 - John Russell, 1st Earl Russell June 26 - Mercedes of Orleans, queen of Spain (b. 1860) July 17 - Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812) December 19 - Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (b. 1825)
Events January 4 - Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule. January 9 - Umberto I becomes King of Italy. January 16 - Captain Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule. January 24 - The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg. January 28 - Yale Daily News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States. February 2 - Greece declares war on Turkey. February 18 - John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jessie Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico. February 19 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison. February 21 - The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut. March 1 - First winter ascent of Aneto March 3 - Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; shortly after Congress of Berlin stripped its status to an autonomous state of the Ottoman Empire. March 24 - The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300. June 4 - Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title. July 1 - Canada joins the Universal Postal Union. July 5 - The coat of arms of the Baku governorate was established. July 13 - Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman empire. 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. August 21 - The American Bar Association is founded. 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 Light Company begins operation. October 22 - The first rugby match under floodlights takes place in Salford, between Broughton and Swinton. November 17 - First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy. December 18 - John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
