What Happened in 1878 — Events, Births & Deaths

Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule.

Umberto I becomes King of Italy.

Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.

Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.

John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.

The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano.

The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.

Last issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers.

The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish.

Hödel assassination attempt by anarchist Max Hödel targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I.

The last witchcraft trial held in the United States begins in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers.

Nobiling assassination attempt by anarchist Karl Nobiling targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I.

Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.

League of Prizren is established, to oppose the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of San Stefano, as a consequence of which the Albanian lands in the Balkans were being partitioned and given to the neighbor states of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece.

Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.

The American Bar Association is founded in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Emma Nutt becomes the world's first female telephone operator when she is recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company.

Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.

First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, who was armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg.

The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar.

Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.