On This Day

Historical Events in December 1878

  • Dec 1 1st White House telephone installed
  • Dec 3 Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah, Israel
  • Dec 9 Joseph Pulitzer buys St Louis Dispatch for $2,500

Declaration of WarAnglo-Zulu War

Dec 11 Anglo-Zulu War: British high commissioner Henry Bartle Frere presents an ultimatum to the Zulu Kingdom to submit to British rule or face war
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Napoleon, Prince Imperial, head of the House of Bonaparte, is killed during the Anglo-Zulu War
Napoleon, Prince Imperial, head of the House of Bonaparte, is killed during the Anglo-Zulu War
  • Dec 12 Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing "St Louis Dispatch"
  • Dec 18 French SS Byzantin sinks after collision in Dardanelles, 210 killed
  • Dec 18 John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires, is executed in Pennsylvania
  • Dec 26 1st US store to install electric lights, Philadelphia
  • Dec 28 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Quod apostolici muneris (socialism)

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