1878 in the United Kingdom

1878 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 | 1880

Sport

1878 English cricket season

1877–78 in English football

Events from the year 1878 in the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Incumbents 2 Events 2.1 Undated 3 Publications 4 Births 5 Deaths 6 References 7 See also

Incumbents

• Monarch — Queen Victoria
• Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative

Events

• January — Cleopatra's Needle arrives in London.
• 14 January — Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone to Queen Victoria.^[1]
• 23 January — Disraeli orders British fleet to the Dardanelles.
• 8 February — The British fleet enters Turkish waters and anchors off Constantinople. Russia threatens to occupy Constantinople but does not act.
• 11 February — First weekly Weather report published in the UK.^[1]
• 24 February — Anti-Russian demonstrations in Hyde Park, London.
• 12 March — Britain annexes Walvis Bay.^[2]
• 15 March — Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, carried out on the instructions of Pope Leo XIII.
• 24 March — The frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.
• 25 March — Russia rejects a British proposal to lay the Treaty of San Stefano before a European congress.
• 27 March — In anticipation of war with Russia, Disraeli mobilizes the reserves and calls Indian troops to Malta.
• 28 March — Stoke City F.C. move into their new stadium at the Victoria Ground, beating Talke Rangers 1-0 in a friendly in their first game there.^[3]
• 25 May — First performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera HMS Pinafore, at the Opera Comique on the Strand, London.^[2]
• 4 June — Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.^[1]
• 7 June — An underground explosion at Wood Pit, Haydock, kills at least 189.^[4][5]
• 4 July — Public Health (Water) Act obliges parishes to provide a supply of "wholesome water" within reasonable distance of every home.^[6]
• 7 August — The Christian Mission, co-founded by (the now) General William and Catherine Booth in London in 1865, has its name changed to The Salvation Army.^[7]
• 3 September — Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.
• 11 September — An underground explosion at Abercarn in Monmouthshire kills 268 coal miners.^[8]
• 12 September — Cleopatra's Needle erected on the Victoria Embankment.^[1]
• October — The University of London becomes the first in the UK to admit women on equal terms with men.
• 14 October — The world's first recorded floodlit football fixture is played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.
• 28 October — The first floodlit rugby match is played in Salford.^[9]
• 21 November — Second Afghan War commences when the British attack Ali Masjid in the Khyber Pass.
• 18 December — Joseph Swan of Newcastle announces his invention of an incandescent light bulb.^[10]

Undated

• Dentists Act limits the title of "dentist" and "dental surgeon" to qualified and registered practitioners.^[11]
• William Crookes invents the Crookes tube which produces cathode rays.^[12]
• The following English Association football clubs are formed:
  • Everton Football Club, formed as St Domingo.
  • Grimsby Town FC, formed as Grimsby Pelham.
  • Ipswich Town Football Club, formed as amateur club Ipswich A.F.C. They will not turn professional until 1936.
  • Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club, the team that will become Manchester United.
  • West Bromwich Albion F.C..
• William Frederick Yeames paints And When Did You Last See Your Father?.

Publications

• Serialisation of Thomas Hardy's novel The Return of the Native.
• Richard Jefferies' collected essays The Gamekeeper at Home.

Births

• 4 January — Augustus John, painter (died 1961)
• 7 January — Samuel James Cameron, obstetrician (died 1959)
• 19 January — Herbert Chapman, football manager (died 1934)
• 3 March — Edward Thomas, poet (died 1917)
• 16 April — Owen Thomas Jones, geologist (died 1967)
• 26 April — Eric Campbell, silent film star (died 1917)
• 1 June — John Masefield, poet and novelist (died 1967)
• 28 June — Evan Roberts preacher (died 1951)
• 24 July — Lord Dunsany, author (died 1957)
• 31 December — Caradoc Evans, writer (died 1945)

Deaths

• 16 March — William Banting, undertaker and dietician (born 1797)
• 25 April — Anna Sewell, author (born 1820)
• 28 May — Lord John Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1792)
• 6 June — Robert Stirling, clergyman and inventor (born 1790)
• 22 July — Samuel McGaw, VC recipient (born 1838)
• 30 August — James Geiss, businessman (born 1820)
• 30 September — Evan James, poet, lyricist of the Welsh national anthem (born 1809)
• 20 November — William Thomas, poet (born 1832)
• 11 December — William Thomas, minister and poet (born 1834)
• 14 December — Princess Alice, member of the royal family (born 1843)
• 31 December — James Matheson, Scottish politician (born 1796)

References

See also

Years in the United Kingdom Years in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 Years in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012