About the day » Sunday December 8, 1878Calender converter

• Albertus Martinus Uittenbogaard, Ameide, Gemeente Vijfheerenlanden, Utrecht, Netherlands († 1939)
• Aaltje de Mots, Putten († 1922)
• Boer, Leutingewolde, Drenthe, Nederland († 1958)
• Alice ROUNDS, Constable, Franklin, New York, Verenigde Staten († 1958)
• Adrianus Verschuren († 1902)
• Aagje Krul, Broek op L'dijk († 1895)
• Aaltje Geertje de Jong, Gouda
• Deraas († 1972)
• Alida de Hond, Rotterdam († 1880)
• Adriaan Rappard, Leiden,Gemeente Leiden,South Holland,Netherlands († 1951)

• Aaltje Jacobus de Vries (68), Langweer
• Albert Jan Hofman (78), Bathmen
• Anna Peters (59), Veessen,Gemeente Heerde, Gelderland, Nederland
• Aleid Hermens (27)
• Aleida HERMES (27), Vossebelt,Dalen
• Agnes den Hollander (0), Leiderdorp, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Anna van de Pol (0), Schoten
• Aaltjen ten Dam (58), Markelo
• Adrianus Cornelis Vermeer (0), Baardwijk, Noord Brabant, Netherlands
• Anna Morse (85)

• 1865 » Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician and academic († 1963)
• 1865 » Rüdiger von der Goltz, German general († 1946)
• 1874 » Ernst Moro, Austrian physician and pediatrician († 1951)
• 1875 » Frederik Buch, Danish actor and screenwriter († 1925)
• 1877 » Paul Ladmirault, French pianist, violinist, and composer († 1944)
• 1880 » Johannes Aavik, Estonian linguist and philologist († 1973)
• 1881 » Albert Gleizes, French painter († 1953)
• 1884 » Francis Balfour, English colonel and politician († 1965)
• 1886 » Diego Rivera, Mexican painter and educator († 1957)
• 1890 » Bohuslav Martinů, Czech-American pianist and composer († 1959)

• 1856 » Theobald Mathew, Irish social reformer and temperance movement leader (b. 1790)
• 1859 » Thomas De Quincey, English journalist and author (b. 1785)
• 1864 » George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1815)
• 1869 » Narcisa de Jesús, Ecuadorian saint (b. 1832)
• 1885 » William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1821)
• 1886 » Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (b. 1792)
• 1894 » Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1821)
• 1903 » Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (b. 1820)
• 1907 » Oscar II of Sweden (b. 1829)
• 1913 » Camille Jenatzy, Belgian race car driver (b. 1868)

• 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 9 » Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
• March 3 » The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano.
• March 24 » The British frigate HMSEurydice sinks, killing more than 300.
• 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.
• November 17 » First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante, who was armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg.

The temperature on December 8, 1878 was about 1.1 °C. The air pressure was 1 kgf/m² and came mainly from the south-southeast. The airpressure was 75 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 83%.