1878 in the United Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 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 |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch — Queen Victoria
- Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative)
[edit] 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]
- 10 June — Konrad Korzeniowski, the future novelist Joseph Conrad, sets foot on English soil for the first time, at Lowestoft from the SS Mavis.
- 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]
- 30 December — Henry Irving's production of Hamlet, with himself in the title rôle playing opposite Ellen Terry as Ophelia, opens at the Lyceum Theatre, London.[11]
[edit] Undated
- Dentists Act limits the title of "dentist" and "dental surgeon" to qualified and registered practitioners.[12]
- William Crookes invents the Crookes tube which produces cathode rays.[13]
- 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 Ipswich Amateur Football Club (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?.
[edit] Publications
- Serialisation of Thomas Hardy's novel The Return of the Native.
- Richard Jefferies' collected essays The Gamekeeper at Home.
[edit] Births
- 4 January — Augustus John, painter (died 1961)
- 6 January — Marian Ellis, later Marian Cripps, Baroness Parmoor, pacifist (died 1952)
- 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)
[edit] Deaths
- 16 March — William Banting, undertaker and dietician (born c.1796)
- 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)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ a b Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 301–302. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Wood Pit Explosion Haydock, 1878". HealeyHero. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ Winstanley, Ian G. (1989). Weep Mothers, Weep: the Wood Pit Explosion, Haydock, 1878. Staining: Landy. ISBN 0-9507692-4-X.
- ^ "Public Health (Water) Act 1878". OPSI. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
- ^ "1878 Foundation Deed Of The Salvation Army". Salvation Army International Heritage Centre. 2003. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
- ^ "Abercarn Colliery". Welsh Coal Mines. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ "Rugby League: Shedding light on historic night match". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ van Dulken, Stephen (2001). Inventing the 19th Century: the great age of Victorian inventions. London: British Library. p. 80. ISBN 0-7123-0881-4.
- ^ Shearer, Moira (1998). Ellen Terry. Pocket Biographies. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 0-7509-1526-9.
- ^ Gelbier, Stanley (2005). "125 Years of Developments in Dentistry". British Dental Journal 199 (7): 470–473. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4812875. PMID 16215593. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
- ^ The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
