* 1878 – Erich Mühsam, German author ( d. 1934 )

* 1878 – Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author ( d. 1956 )

* 1878 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian politician ( b. 1796 )

Alexander Mackenzie, PC ( January 28, 1822 – April 17, 1892 ), a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.

* Sir Henri Elzear Taschereau – October 7, 1878

* 1878 – Dick Grant, Canadian runner ( d. 1958 )

** Haliotis kamtschatkana assimilis Dall, 1878 – synonym: Haliotis assimilis, the threaded abalone

Prominent leaders include co-founders Lucien Febvre ( 1878 – 1956 ) and Marc Bloch ( 1886 – 1944 ).

* 1878 – Tip Foster, English cricketer ( d. 1914 )

* 1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian army officer ( d. 1928 )

* 1878 – Léon Binoche, French rugby player ( d. 1962 )

* 1878 – Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino politician, 2nd President of the Philippines ( d. 1944 )

* 1878 – Richard Girulatis, German footballer and manager ( d. 1963 )

* George V of Hanover ( 1819 – 1878 )

* 1878 – George Whipple, American physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1976 )

* Queen Victoria – the British Weights and Measures Act of 1878 defined it as containing 4, 840 square yards.

* 1878 – Emil Fuchs, German-American attorney and baseball owner ( d. 1961 )

* 1878 – Oliver W. F. Lodge, English poet and writer ( d. 1955 )

* 1878 – Alfred Döblin, German writer ( d. 1957 )

* 1929 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician ( b. 1878 )

* 1843 – Alice of the United Kingdom ( d. 1878 )

* 1878 – William Merz, American gymnast and athlete ( d. 1946 )

* 1878 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist ( d. 1958 )

* 1965 – Louise Dresser, American actress ( b. 1878 )

* 1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.

This was followed by the formation of St. John Ambulance in 1877, based on the principles of the Knights Hospitaller, to teach first aid, and numerous other organization joined them with the term first aid first coined in 1878 as civilian ambulance services spread as a combination of " first treatment " and " national aid " in large railway centres and mining districts as well as with police forces.

* 1878 – John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.

* John Young ( Canadian politician ) ( 1811 – 1878 ), former member of the Canadian House of Commons

* 1878 – John Henry Lake, American racing cyclist ( death date unknown )

John Watson ( 1878 – 1959 ) coined the term " behaviorism.

* 1967 – John Masefield, English writer ( b. 1878 )

Professor John Phin published " Practical Hints on the Selection and Use of the Microscope ( Second Edition, 1878 )," and was also the editor of the " American Journal of Microscopy.

* 1796 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian politician ( d. 1878 )

Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada ( 1867 – 1873, 1878 – 1891 )

In 1878, John Moses Browning patented arguably the greatest single-shot rifle ever produced: after Browning sold his design to Winchester it was brought out as the Model 1885 Winchester Single Shot Rifle.

Sketches of the Wild Sports & Natural History of the Highlands London: John Murray 1878

Sir John A. Macdonald was second-in-line, with 19 years, as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Canadian history ( 1867 – 1873, 1878 – 1891 ).

There was bad feeling between Grace and some of the 1878 Australians, especially their manager John Conway ; this came to a head on 20 June in a row over the services of Grace's friend Billy Midwinter, an Australian who had played for Gloucestershire in 1877.

** John S. Robertson, Canadian film director ( b. 1878 )

Sir John Everett Millais, The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483, Royal Holloway collection, 1878

Russia preparing to let slip the " Dogs of War ," its imminent engagement in the growing Balkan Russo-Turkish War ( 1877 – 1878 ) | conflict between Slavic states and Turkey, while policeman John Bull ( United Kingdom | Britain ) warns Russia to take care.

* May 12 – John Masefield, English poet and novelist ( b. 1878 )

* August 18 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ( d. 1878 )

She cared for her brother John for several years until their father remarried in 1912 to Elizabeth " Lizzie " Fields ( 1878 – 1933 ).

# Julia Mary Herschel ( 1842 – 1933 ) married on 4 June 1878 to Captain ( later Admiral ) John Fiot Lee Pearse Maclear

Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, ( 4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961 ) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher.

Taking over the business in 1861, John Cadbury's sons Richard and George decided in 1878 that they needed new premises.