In 1878, while A A Pope became the first manufacturer of bicycles in the US, the club which was to become the Cyclists' Touring Club was founded in the UK. The German, Karl Benz built a motorized tricycle with a top speed of 7 m.p.h.
It was an eventful year in Germany, what with the attempted assassination of Wilhelm I, the Berlin Congress attempting to solve the Greece/Turkey disputes (look how successful THAT has been) and the establishment of the first crematorium in Europe at Gotha. Deutcher Fussballverein , Hanover, was founded. An anti-socialist law was passed. Heinrich Treischke began the radical anti-Semite movement which would eventually develop into National Socialism. Mannlicher produced a repeating rifle.
The celebrated Whistler v Ruskin libel action ("flinging a pot of paint in the public's face") went its merry way.
Cleopatra's Needle, removed from Alexandria where it had been since 1819 after being uprooted from Heliopolis where it had stood from 1475 BCE, came to London, there to await the construction of the Thames Embankment, taking its present, but probably not final, resting place in the same year that The Savoy Theatre opened not far away.
King Victor Emmanuel II died, to be succeeded by his son Humbert. Terrorist activity in Italy increased, with the Irredentist agitation to obtain Trieste and the South Tirol from Austria.
Pope Pius IX (born 1792) died, to be succeeded by Cardinal Count Pecci as Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903.
Ellen Terry joined Henry Irving's company at The Lyceum Theatre
"We don't want to fight, but by jingo if we do, We've got the men, we've got the guns, we've got the money too." and a British fleet arrived at Constantinople to reinforce the message to the Russians that the Pax Britannica required them to check their advance in Asia Minor.
'The Christian Revival Association' changed its name to 'The Salvation Army'
Grove published the first edition of his 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians'.
William Morris published 'The Decorative Arts'.
Thomas Hardy published 'Return of the Native'.
Swinburne published 'Poems and Ballads'.
The Casino at Monte Carlo was opened.
Fur farming begins in Canada.
Page created 24 October 1997