References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1878 January 8 Secret meeting of King Leopold II's agent and Henry Morton Stanley. [1] January 9 Victor Emmanuel II king of Sardinia (1849-61)/Italy (1861-78), dies at age 57. [1] January 10 US Senate proposes female suffrage. [1] January 14 US Supreme court rules race separation on trains unconstitutional. [1] January 19 Henri V Regnault French physicist/chemist, dies at age 67. [1] January 28 First telephone exchange (New Haven Connecticut). [1] George W Coy hired as first full-time telephone operator. [1] Yale Daily News published, first college daily newspaper. [1] February 1 George Cruikshank English illustrator (Grimm), dies at age 85. [1] February 2 Greece declares war on Turkey. [1] February 7 Pius IX "Pio Nono", [Giovanni Ferretti], Pope (1846-78), dies at age 85. [1] February 8 Elias M Fries Swedish botanist (mycologicum), dies at age 83. [1] February 10 Peace of Zanjón. [1] Peter Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony in F, premieres. [1] February 11 First US bicycle club, Boston Bicycle Club, forms. [1] First weekly Weather report published in United Kingdom. [1] February 16 Silver dollar became US legal tender. [1] February 17 First telephone exchange in San Francisco opens with 18 phones. [1] José Amador de los Ríos Spanish historian/poet, dies at age 59. [1] February 18 Peter D Regout industrialist (Sphinx, Maastricht), dies at age 76. [1] February 19 Charles F Daubigny French restaurateur/painter, dies at age 61. [1] Thomas Alva Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph). [1] [5] February 21 First telephone directory (with 50 names) issued (New Haven Connecticut). [1] February 22 Franz Hunten composer, dies at age 84. [1] Greenback Labor Party formed (Toledo Ohio). [1] February 28 US congress authorizes large-size silver certificate. [1] March 3 Bulgaria liberated from Turkey (Peace of San Stefano). [1] March 16 King Oskar II of Sweden sells St. Barthelemew island to France. [7] William Banting English undertaker, dies. [1] March 24 Albin Masek composer, dies at age 73. [1] British frigate Eurydice sunk; 300 lost. [1] March 26 Hastings College of Law founded. [1] Sabi Game Reserve, world's first official designated game reserve, opens. [1] March 27 Dobri Voynikov composer, dies at age 44. [1] George Gilbert Scott architect, dies. [1] April 1 Eugene Gautier composer, dies at age 56. [1] April 2 First issue of Rotterdam's Newspaper. [1] April 5 Wilhelm Speyer composer, dies at age 87. [1] April 9 First Lady Lucy Hayes begins egg rolling contest on White House lawn. [1] April 10 California State Cable Car Railroad Company starts service. [1] April 12 William M "Boss" Tweed New York politician, dies. [1] April 15 Harley Procter introduces Ivory Soap. [1] April 21 New York installs first firehouse pole. [1] Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Inscrutabili. [1] Temistocle Solera composer, dies at age 62. [1] The ship Azor leaves Charleston with 206 blacks for Liberia. [1] April 23 First Dutch test drive of steam tram. [1] Friedrich Preller landscape painter, dies. [1] May 2 US stops minting 20-cent coin. [1] May 4 Phonograph shown for first time at Grand Opera House. [1] May 14 Vaseline is first sold (registered trademark for petroleum jelly). [1] May 19 Blanche Kelso Bruce appointed register of treasury by President Garfield. [1] May 22 Franz von Holstein composer, dies at age 52. [1] May 23 Attorney John Henry Smyth named minister to Liberia. [1] May 24 CA Parker (Harvard) wins first American bike race, Beacon Park Boston. [1] May 25 Gilbert and Sullivans opera "HMS Pinafore" premieres in London. [1] May 27 Carlo Marsili composer, dies at age 49. [1] May 31 German battleship Grosser Kurfürst sinks, 284 killed. [1] US Congress accept decrease in dollar circulation. [1] June 4 Cyprus ceded by Turkey to Britain for administrative purposes. [1] June 15 First attempt at motion pictures (used 12 cameras, each taking 1. [1] June 18 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #188 Menippe. [1] July 9 An improved corncob pipe patented by Henry Tibbe, Washington, Mo. [1] Corncob pipe patented (Henry Tibbe). [1] July 13 Treaty of Berlin amended terms of Treaty of San Stefano. [1] July 20 First telephone introduced in Hawaii. [1] August 21 The American Bar Association is founded at Sarasota, New York. [1] [5] September 1 First female telephone operator starts work (Emma Nutt in Boston). [1] September 30 First Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawaii. [1] October 15 Edison Electric Light Company incorporated. [1] December 1 First White House telephone installed. [1] December 3 Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah Israel. [1] December 9 Joseph Pulitzer buys Saint Louis Dispatch for $2,500. [1] December 12 Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing "St Louis Dispatch". [1] December 18 French SS Byzantin sinks after collision in Dardanellen, 210 killed. [1] December 25 Anna Claypoole Peale US painter of miniatures, dies. [1] December 26 First US store to install electric lights, Philadelphia. [1] December 28 Jose Bernardo Alcedo composer, dies at age 90. [1] Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Quod apostolici muneris (socialism). [1] 1879 January 1 John Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major premieres in Leipzig. [1] January 2 British battleship Thunder explodes in Gulf of Ismid, 9 die. [1] January 7 Dutch King Willem II marries Emma von Waldeck-Pyrmont. [1] January 9 Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Fort Robinson. [1] Don Joaquin BF Espartero fieldmarshall/viceroy of Navarra, dies at age 86. [1] Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas. [1] January 11 Zulu war against British colonial rule in South Africa begins. [1] January 12 British Zulu War begins Lieutenant-General Chelmsford invades Zululand. [1] January 13 In St. Augustine, Florida, a large magnitude earthquake occurs. Felt from Daytona Beach to Savannah, Georgia. [53] WF Hendrik the Navigator prince of Netherlands/viceroy of Luxembourg, dies at age 58. [1] January 16 January record 13" of snow falls in New York City, New York (broken Jan 7, 1996). [1] January 20 British troops under Lord Chelmsford set camp at Isandlwana. [1] January 21 Henrik Ibsen's "Et Dukkehjem" premieres in Copenhagen. [1] January 22 Anthony Durnford British Colonel, dies in battle. [1] George Shepstone British political affiliate, dies in battle. [1] James Shields (Democrat) elected US senator from Missouri after previously serving as US senator from Illinois and Minnesota. [1] Zulus attack British Army camp in Isandhlwana South Africa. [1] January 23 Adolf Jensen composer, dies at age 42. [1] January 29 Antonia MB Antonucci Italian cardinal/diplomat, dies at age 80. [1] Custer Battlefield National Monument, Montana established. [1] January 30 French President MacMahon resigns. [1] February 5 Joseph Swan demonstrates light bulb using carbon glow. [1] February 8 Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute. [5] February 10 First electric arc light used (California Theater). [1] Henry Morton Stanley departs to the Congo. [1] Honoré V Daumier French painter/lithographer, dies at age 70. [1] Wolter R baron van Hoëvell Dutch vicar/abolitionist, dies at age 66. [1] February 11 Honore Daumier caricaturist/painter, dies. [1] Willem J van Zeggelen Dutch author/novelist/writer, dies at age 67. [1] February 12 At New York City's Madison Square Garden, the first artificial ice rink in North America opens. [1] [5] News about slaughtering of Isandlwana reaches London. [1] February 14 Chilean troops occupy Antofagasta. [1] February 15 US Congress authorizes women lawyers to practice before the Supreme Court. [1] February 18 Arabs capture Egyptian premier Nabar Pasha. [1] February 21 Peter P van Bosse Dutch liberal minister of Finance, dies at age 69. [1] February 22 First 5 and 10 cent store opened by Frank W Woolworth in Utica New York. [1] February 25 US Congress passed first Timberland Protection Act. [1] February 27 Constantine Fahlberg discovers saccharin (artificial sweetener). [1] February 28 "Exodus of 1879" southern blacks flee political/economic exploitation. [1] March 1 Library of Hawaii founded. [1] March 3 First female lawyer heard by Supreme Court (Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood). [1] In Washington, D.C., the United States Geological Survey is established, in the Department of the Interior, with responsibilities: "classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain". [1] [53] March 13 Adolf Anderssen German world champion chess (1851..66), dies at age 60. [1] March 29 Tsjaikovski's opera "Jevgeni Onegin" premieres in Moscow. [1] March 30 David van der Kellen Dutch coin engraver, dies at age 74. [1] Thomas Couture French painter/author, dies at age 63. [1] April 8 Khedive Ismael of Egypt fires French/British ministers. [1] Milk is sold in glass bottles for first time. [1] April 9 Ernst Friedrich Richter composer, dies at age 70. [1] April 16 Bernadette saint/(saw Virgin Mary at Lourdes), dies in Nevers France. [1] April 18 Anthony Pannizim principal librarian (British Museum), dies. [1] Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on Indians citizen rights begins. [1] April 20 First mobile home (horse drawn) used in a journey from London and Cyprus. [1] May 4 William Froude British civil engineer/shipbuilder (F Integer), dies at age 68. [1] May 8 George Selden files for first patent for a gasoline-driven automobile. [1] May 10 Meteor falls near Estherville IA. [1] May 16 Antonin Dvorák's "Slavic Dancing" premieres. [1] Treaty of Gandamak to set up Afghan state between Russia and English. [1] May 21 Battle of Iquiquw. [1] May 24 William Lloyd Garrison abolitionist (Liberator), dies at age 73. [1] May 30 92 degrees F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland Ohio in May. [1] Gilmore Garden (New York City) renamed Madison Square Garden. [1] May 31 First electric railway opens at Berlin Trades Exposition. [1] Madison Square Garden opens its doors. [1] June 13 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #198 Ampella. [1] June 16 Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore" debuts at Bowery Theatre New York City. [1] June 21 F W Woolworth opens first store (failed almost immediately). [1] July 9 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #199 Byblis. [1] July 17 First railroad opens in Hawaii. [1] July 27 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #200 Dynamene. [1] August 27 Sir Rowland Hill introduced postage stamps, dies at age 84. [1] August 30 John B Hood confederate general (lost Atlanta), dies at age 48. [1] August 31 William Barber 6th US chief engraver (1844-79), dies. [1] September 20 US Grant comes to San Francisco for elaborate extended visit. [1] September 23 Baldwin steam motors tram first tried in Sydney Australia. [1] September 28 Sydney Australia innaugurates steam motor tram route. [1] October 21 Thomas Edison perfects the carbonized cotton filament light bulb. [1] November 2 In a six-day footrace a Mr Weston loses to a horse, 900 to 885 km. [1] November 4 James and John Ritty patent first cash register, to combat stealing by bartenders in their Dayton, Ohio saloon. [1] November 19 National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders determines what "is" a trotter. [1] December 5 First automatic telephone switching system patented. [1] December 13 First federal fish hatching steamer launched (Wilmington Delaware). [1] December 20 Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park. [1] December 26 Jean Leonard Marie Poiseuille dies. [1] John Brahms' "Tragic Ouverture" premieres. [1] December 28 North British Railway's train falls as Firth bridge collapses (Scotland). [1] December 30 Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" premieres. [1] December 31 Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US). [1] Edison gives first public demonstration of his incandescent lamp. [1] Gilbert/Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]