* 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces begin besieging the French outpost at Pondicherry.

In 1778, during the American War of Independence, the French mounted a successful invasion with the active cooperation of the population, which was largely French.

* 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clash in the Battle of St. Lucia.

* 1778 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist ( d. 1850 )

* 1778 – The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

Russia protested the Turkish agreement with the French as a violation of the Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca of 1778 — the treaty which ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774.

The leader of the French Enlightenment and a writer of enormous influence across Europe, was Voltaire ( 1694 – 1778 ).

In the Battle of Ushant with the French in 1778, Lord Keppel commanded the Channel Fleet and the outcome resulted in no clear winner ; Keppel ordered to renew the attack and this was obeyed except by Sir Hugh Palliser, who commanded the rear, and the French escaped bombardment.

* 1778 – American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant – British and French fleets fight to a standoff.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (; 28 June 17122 July 1778 ) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism of French expression.

In 15 – 16th-century French and English depictions of relationships between women ( Lives of Gallant Ladies by Brantôme in 1665, John Cleland's 1749 erotica Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, L ' Espion Anglais by various authors in 1778 ), writers ' attitudes spanned from amused tolerance to arousal, whereupon a male character would participate to complete the act.

* 1698 – Pierre de Rigaud, Canadian-born French Governor ( d. 1778 )

When the American Revolution began, American ships were protected by the 1778 alliance with France, which required the French nation to protect " American vessels and effects against all violence, insults, attacks ...".

* Voltaire ( François-Marie Arouet ) ( 1694 – 1778 ) French.

As for the composition date of Mozart's Variations, for a time the variations were thought to have been composed in 1778, while Mozart stayed in Paris from April to September in that year, the assumption being that the melody of a French song could only have been picked up by Mozart while residing in France.

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC ( 15 November 1708 – 11 May 1778 ), called William Pitt the Elder by historians, was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years ' War ( known as the French and Indian War in the United States ).

* May 10 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist ( b. 1778 )

The French chemist Antoine Lavoisier showed ( about 1778 ) that plants and animals must “ combust ” oxygen internally to live and was able to deduce that most of the 165-pound weight of van Helmont ’ s willow tree derived from air.

* October 18 – Charles le Beau, French historian ( d. 1778 )

* November 21 – Voltaire, French philosopher ( d. 1778 )

Louis intervened in the American Revolution against Britain in 1778, but he is most remembered for his role in the French Revolution.

* Thomas Wharton Jr. ( 1735 – 1778 ), Governor of Pennsylvania

He served as deputy to the Governor from 1775 to 1778.

Letter from Governor William Livingston to Israel Shreve, 1778

He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and from 1785 to 1795 .< ref >

The attack was stopped when Lieutenant Governor William Bradford rowed out to the Rose to negotiate a cease-fire, but then a second attack took place on May 25, 1778.

A scene along the Wabash River, sketched in 1778 by Lt Governor Henry Hamilton on route to recapture Vincennes, Indiana

By 1778, Governor Wright convinced the government to lend him enough troops to once again attempt to take Savannah.

* 1778-Sir Frederick Haldimand takes command as “ Captain General and Governor in Chief " 26 June 1778.

* John Montagu ( Royal Navy officer ) ( 1719 – 1795 ), Commodore Governor for Newfoundland and Labrador, 1776 – 1778

James Murray ( 21 January 1721, Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Scotland – 18 June 1794, Battle, East Sussex ) FRS was a British soldier, whose lengthy career included service as colonial administrator and governor of the Province of Quebec and later as Governor of Minorca from 1778 to 1782.

From 1778 to 1786 he served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, during which time he oversaw military operations against the northern frontiers in the war, and engaged in ultimately fruitless negotiations to establish the independent Vermont Republic as a new British province.

He became Governor of the Province of Quebec ( which at the time included what is now Ontario ) in 1778, serving through the American Revolution.

A letter from Governor Frederick Haldimand to Lord George Germain in October 1778, written from his camp in Sorel where fortifications were in progress, indicates his proposed use of the Seigniory.

In the spring of 1778 an invasion of East Florida was organized by Georgia Governor John Houstoun and Continental Army General Robert Howe.

On January 2, 1778, Governor Patrick Henry gave Clark the authority to raise a regiment and secret orders to attack British forces and their allies on Virginia's frontier.

* Thomas Chittenden, first Governor of Vermont ( 1778 – 1789, 1790 – 1797 )

Joseph Trumbull ( March 11, 1737 – July 23, 1778 ), son of Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut, was the first commissary general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

He was also Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1776 to 1778, active in suppressing Patriot sentiment in that province.

Michel-Ange Du Quesne de Menneville, Marquis Du Quesne ( c. 1700 – 17 September 1778 ) was a French Governor General of New France.

* Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville ( 1700 – 1778 ), French Governor of Canada and naval officer

He was the 6th Governor of Georgia, in 1778, and again in 1784 – 1785.

Early in 1778, he was elected as the second revolutionary Governor of Georgia also being the first governor of Georgia to be born in Georgia.