About the day » Saturday October 12, 1878Calender converter

• Anna Berdina de Leeuw, Breda († 1943)
• Alida Maria Vandamme, Klerken († 1947)
• Albertus Hegteler, Hengeveld, Wijhe († 1960)
• Alida Jongman, Giethoorn, Overijssel, Nederland († 1957)
• Adriaan de Wit, Sliedrecht, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 1932)
• * Grietje de Jong, Hoornaar († 1961)
• Adriaan de Wit, Sliedrecht, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 1932)
• Anna Maria Elizabeth Huiser, Rotterdam († 1962)
• Alberdina Maria Aleida HERMSEN, Arnhem, 1163, Gelderland, Nederland († 1956)
• ANNA THERESIA KERCKHOFS, MOL († 1964)

• Arend Slijkhuis (63), Voorst, Gelderland, Nederland
• Anna Cecilia PAULL (45), Kortessem, 3720, Hasselt, Limburg, België
• Adriaan Haast (56), Etten en Leur (NL)
• Broeders Elisabeth, Dongen, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Anna Maria Berens (20), Hebelermeer,Duitsland
• Arie Hendrik Hoek (43), Steenbergen, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Anna Catharina Ingerman (59), Amsterdam, Holland
• Allen McPhail (71), Covington Co, MS
• Auguste Emilie Charlotte Nauck (67), Neukrug, Pommern, Poland
• Agatha Schrama (11), Hillegom, Zuid Holland, Nederland

• 1865 » Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate († 1940)
• 1866 » Ramsay MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom († 1937)
• 1868 » August Horch, German engineer and businessman, founded Audi († 1951)
• 1868 » Mariano Trías, Filipino general and politician, 1st Vice President of the Philippines († 1914)
• 1872 » Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer and educator († 1958)
• 1874 » Jimmy Burke, American baseball player and manager († 1942)
• 1875 » Aleister Crowley, English magician and author († 1947)
• 1878 » Truxtun Hare, American football player and hammer thrower († 1956)
• 1880 » Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author († 1913)
• 1891 » Edith Stein, Polish nun and martyr; later canonized († 1942)

• 1845 » Elizabeth Fry, English prison reformer, Quaker and philanthropist (b. 1780)
• 1858 » Hiroshige, Japanese painter (b. 1797)
• 1870 » Robert E. Lee, American general (b. 1807)
• 1875 » Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (b. 1827)
• 1896 » Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish lawyer and politician, 9th Council President of Denmark (b. 1817)
• 1898 » Calvin Fairbank, American minister and activist (b. 1816)
• 1914 » Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (b. 1838)
• 1915 » Edith Cavell, English nurse (b. 1865)
• 1923 » Bunny Lucas, English cricketer (b. 1857)
• 1924 » Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from November 3, 1877 to August 20, 1879 the cabinet Kappeijne van de Coppello, with Mr. J. Kappeijne van de Coppello (liberaal) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 4.0 million citizens.
• January 16 » Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
• March 3 » The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano.
• May 14 » The last witchcraft trial held in the United States begins in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers.
• June 4 » Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
• June 10 » League of Prizren is established, to oppose the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of San Stefano, as a consequence of which the Albanian lands in the Balkans were being partitioned and given to the neighbor states of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece.
• October 15 » The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.

The temperature on October 12, 1878 was about 10.9 °C. The air pressure was 1 kgf/m² and came mainly from the west. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 87%.