About the day » Friday December 20, 1878Calender converter

• Andreas Merks, Breda
• * Pieter Siebold, Lexmond († 1929)
• van den Driest, Serooskerke, Walcheren
• Groenheiden, 's Gravenzande († 1878)
• Adriaan Goossens, Hoogeloon († 1960)
• Aaltje Libbes Leemburg, Nijehaske, 8466, Nederland († 1961)
• Wesselink, Oldenzaal († 1878)
• Aaltje Leemburg, Aengwirden († 1961)
• Angenietje Klazes jellema, Opsterland († 1894)
• Aaltje Bosch

• Christoffel Driessen (59), Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands
• Apollonia van der Vliet (0), Terneuzen, Nederland
• Berendina Egberts (86), Rheden, Gelderland, Nederland
• Berend Venema (0), Oostwold (gem. Oldambt)
• Antonetta Timmers (3), Boekel, Gemeente Boekel, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Aafje van Diepen (25), Zwaagdijk, Nederland
• Annigje Goudriaan (42), City of Groningen
• Agatha Nieuwburg (78), Hekendorp
• Aafke van Dijk (63), Grootegast
• Abraham de Haas (0), Delfshaven Rotterdam Zuid-Holland Nederland

• 1868 » Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company († 1938)
• 1869 » Charley Grapewin, American actor († 1956)
• 1871 » Henry Kimball Hadley, American composer and conductor († 1937)
• 1873 » Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian, author, and academic († 1948)
• 1873 » Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, academic, and politician († 1936)
• 1881 » Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager († 1965)
• 1886 » Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player and businessman († 1974)
• 1888 » Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager († 1958)
• 1888 » Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic († 1980)
• 1890 » Yvonne Arnaud, French pianist, actress and singer († 1958)

• 1856 » Francesco Bentivegna, Italian activist (b. 1820)
• 1862 » Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
• 1880 » Gaspar Tochman, Polish-American colonel and lawyer (b. 1797)
• 1893 » George C. Magoun, American businessman (b. 1840)
• 1915 » Upendrakishore Ray, Indian painter and composer (b. 1863)
• 1916 » Arthur Morgan, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Queensland (b. 1856)
• 1917 » Lucien Petit-Breton, French-Argentinian cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1919 » Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1835)
• 1920 » Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (b. 1863)
• 1921 » Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist (b. 1852)

• 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 4 » Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule and designated the capital of Liberated Bulgaria.
• January 9 » Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
• February 19 » Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
• February 21 » The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
• July 1 » Canada joins the Universal Postal Union.
• October 22 » The Bramall Lane stadium sees the first rugby match played under floodlights.

The temperature on December 20, 1878 was about -0.2 °C. The air pressure was 1 kgf/m² and came mainly from the west-southwest. The airpressure was 75 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 95%.