Famous People Who Died In 1878

Discover the most famous people died who died in the year 1878. This list includes people like Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, William M. Tweed, Claude Bernard, William Cullen Bryant, Joseph Henry and many more. This list of celebrities is loosely sorted by popularity. People featured on this list, include political leaders, poets, spiritual & religious leaders and emperors & kings who died in 1878. This list includes people from United States, United Kingdom, Germany and many more countries.
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 1 
James Alexander Hamilton
(Son of Alexander Hamilton)
James Alexander Hamilton
4
Listed In: Lawyers & Judges
Birthdate: April 14, 1788
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York City, New York
Died: September 24
 2 
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
(Former Grand Duchess Consort of Hesse and by Rhine (1877 - 1878))
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
14
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: April 25, 1843
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: London, England
Died: December 14
Princess Alice was the third child of England’s Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Her organization Princess Alice Women's Guild oversaw military hospitals during the Austro-Prussian War. She became the Grand Duchy of Hesse by virtue of her marriage to German Prince Louis. She eventually died due to diptheria.
 3 
William Cullen Bryant
(Romantic Poet)
William Cullen Bryant
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: November 3, 1794
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Cummington, Massachusetts
Died: June 12
 4 
Claude Bernard
(Physiologist)
Claude Bernard
2
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: July 12, 1813
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Saint-Julien, France
Died: February 10

Claude Bernard was a French physiologist whose scientific experiments led to several important discoveries. He is credited with coining the phrase milieu intérieur, which refers to the extracellular fluid (ECF) environment. He also pioneered the use of a blinded experiment to eliminate various experimental biases.

 5 
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
(King of Italy (1861 - 1878))
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
3
Birthdate: March 14, 1820
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Palazzo Carignano, Turin, Italy
Died: January 9

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy reigned as the king of Sardinia from 1849 to 1861. He then became the first king of a united Italy in 1861 and reigned as its king until his death in 1878. Since he played a major role in the Second Italian War of Independence, Italians started referring to him as Father of the Fatherland.

 6 
Lord John Russell
(Prime Minister of Great Britain)
Lord John Russell
2
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: August 18, 1792
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Mayfair, Middlesex, England
Died: May 28
 7 
Henry Wells
(Businessman)
Henry Wells
2
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: December 12, 1805
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Thetford, Vermont, United States
Died: December 10
 8 
Kirkpatrick Macmillan
(Inventor of Pedal Bicycle)
Kirkpatrick Macmillan
7
Birthdate: September 2, 1812
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Keir, Dumfries and Galloway
Died: January 23

Kirkpatrick Macmillan was a 19th-century Scottish blacksmith generally credited with inventing the pedal-driven bicycle. He allegedly completed constructing a pedal-driven bicycle of wood in 1839. The bicycle included iron-rimmed wooden wheels and a steerable wheel. However, there is no concrete evidence to prove that he was indeed the inventor of the first pedal-driven bicycle.  

 9 
Joseph Henry
(Scientist)
Joseph Henry
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: December 17, 1797
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Albany, New York, United States
Died: May 13
 10 
Thierry Hermès
(Founded Hermès International)
Thierry Hermès
1
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: January 10, 1801
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Krefeld, Germany
Died: January 10
 11 
Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
(Princess)
Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
0
Birthdate: May 24, 1874
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Darmstadt, Germany
Died: November 16
 12 
Benjamin F. Wade
(Politician)
Benjamin F. Wade
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: October 27, 1800
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts
Died: March 2
 13 
Gideon Welles
(24th United States Secretary of the Navy)
Gideon Welles
1
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: July 1, 1802
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Glastonbury, Connecticut, United States
Died: February 11
 14 
Mindon Min
(King of Myanmar)
Mindon Min
2
Birthdate: July 8, 1808
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Amarapura, Myanmar
Died: October 1
 15 
Catharine Beecher
(Educator)
Catharine Beecher
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: September 6, 1800
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: East Hampton, New York, United States
Died: May 12
 16 
George Henry Lewes
(Philosopher)
George Henry Lewes
1
Birthdate: April 18, 1817
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: London, England
Died: November 30
 17 
William M. Tweed
(Member of the New York Senate from 1868 to 1873)
William M. Tweed
2
Listed In: Criminals
Birthdate: April 3, 1823
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: April 12

William M. Tweed was an American politician best known for serving as the boss of Tammany Hall, which had a major influence on the political scene of 19th-century New York State. He was later convicted for stealing millions of dollars from New York City taxpayers. His life and career inspired several films, such as Up in Central Park and Liberty.

 18 
George Gilbert Scott
(British Architect)
George Gilbert Scott
1
Listed In: Architects
Birthdate: July 13, 1811
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Parsonage, Gawcott, Buckinghamshire, England
Died: March 27

George Gilbert Scott was a British architect best remembered for his contribution to the Gothic Revival style of architecture. Scott is credited with designing and altering over 800 buildings, including several churches and cathedrals. He served as the architect of several iconic edifices like The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow.

 19 
John Morrissey
(Politician)
John Morrissey
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: February 12, 1831
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Templemore, Ireland
Died: May 1
 20 
George Cruikshank
(Caricaturist)
George Cruikshank
0
Birthdate: September 27, 1792
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: London, England
Died: February 1
 21 
Lizzie Burns
(Activist)
Lizzie Burns
1
Listed In: Activists
Birthdate: August 6, 1827
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Manchester, England
Died: September 12
 22 
Ernst Heinrich Weber
(German Physician)
Ernst Heinrich Weber
1
Listed In: Physicians
Birthdate: June 24, 1795
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Wittenberg, Germany
Died: January 26
 23 
Mohammed bin Thani
(Politician)
Mohammed bin Thani
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 1788 AD
Birthplace: Fuwayrit, Qatar
Died: December 18
 24 
Nikolay Nekrasov
(Poet who Introduced Ternary Meters and the Technique of Dramatic Monologue into Russian Poetry)
Nikolay Nekrasov
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: December 10, 1821
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Nemyriv, Ukraine
Died: January 8

Russian poet Nikolay Nekrasov established himself as a successful businessman before stepping into writing. He bought and developed the magazine Sovremennik, or The Contemporary. Most of his poems, such as Red-Nosed Frost, spoke about the misery of the peasant class. He also introduced the dramatic monologue to Russian literature.

 

 25 
Mirza Fatali Akhundov
(Writer and Philisopher)
Mirza Fatali Akhundov
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: July 12, 1812
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Shaki, Azerbaijan
Died: March 9

Iranian Azerbaijani author and philosopher Mirza Fatali Akhundov was the first literary critic and realist writer from his country. He developed the Azerbaijani alphabets and script. The 19th-century author is also remembered as the pioneer of atheism and nationalism in his country. He also criticized Islam and other religions.

 26 
George V of Hanover
(Former King of Hanover (1851 - 1866))
George V of Hanover
3
Birthdate: May 27, 1819
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: June 12

Though completely blind since childhood, George V of Hanover, the only son of King Ernest Augustus, exerted his influence by constantly being at conflict with the Hanoverian parliament. His rejected of Prussia’s demands of unarmed neutrality led to Prussia’s invasion of Hanover. He spent his final years in exile.

 27 
Pope Pius IX
(Head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878)
Pope Pius IX
3
Birthdate: May 13, 1792
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Senigallia, Italy
Died: February 7

Pope Pius IX served as the longest-tenured pope. His reign also witnessed the first Vatican Council and was thus the last pope who had control over the Papal States. He also issued the Syllabus of Errors and inspired books such as The Pope Who Would Be King by David Kertzer.

 28 
Julius von Mayer
(Physicist, Physician)
Julius von Mayer
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: November 25, 1814
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Heilbronn
Died: March 20

Apart from being a qualified doctor, Julius von Mayer was also a skilled chemist and physicist. His theory that heat and work can be transformed into one another paved the path for what is now known as the first law of thermodynamics, which states “energy can be neither created nor destroyed.”

 29 
Bayard Taylor
(Poet)
Bayard Taylor
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: January 11, 1825
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: December 19
 30 
Townsend Harris
(First United States Consul General to Japan)
Townsend Harris
0
Listed In: Business People
Birthdate: October 4, 1804
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Washington County, New York, United States
Died: February 25
 31 
Crawford Long
(American Surgeon and Pharmacist Best Known for His First Use of Inhaled 'Sulfuric Ether' as an Anesthetic)
Crawford Long
2
Listed In: Physicians
Birthdate: November 1, 1815
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Danielsville, Georgia, United States
Died: June 16

American surgeon and pharmacist Crawford Long is best-known as the inventor of modern anaesthetics in the West. Long is believed to be the first to apply inhaled sulfuric ether as a general anaesthesia. He applied it for the first time in 1842 for removing a tumour from a patient’s neck and went on to perform several other surgeries using ether anaesthetic.

 32 
Angelo Secchi
(Italian Jesuit Priest and Astrophysicist, Who Made the First Survey of the Spectra of Stars)
Angelo Secchi
0
Listed In: Scientists
Birthdate: June 28, 1818
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Reggio Emilia, Italy
Died: February 26

A pioneer in astronomical spectroscopy, Italian Jesuit priest and astronomer Angelo Secchi was among the first scientists who authoritatively stated that the Sun is a star. Notable contributions of Secchi, who served as director of the observatory at the Roman College for nearly three decades, includes discovering three comets and solar spicules; and inventing Secchi disk, heliospectrograph and telespectroscope.

 33 
Sarah Helen Power Whitman
(Poet)
Sarah Helen Power Whitman
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: January 19, 1803
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Died: June 27
 34 
Anna Sewell
(Writer, Novelist, Children's writer)
Anna Sewell
5
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 30, 1820
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Great Yarmouth
Died: April 25
 35 
Benjamin Davis Wilson
(2nd Mayor of Los Angeles)
Benjamin Davis Wilson
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: December 1, 1811
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Wilson County, Tennessee, United States
Died: March 11
 36 
Ōkubo Toshimichi
(Bushi, Politician)
Ōkubo Toshimichi
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: September 26, 1830
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Satsuma Province
Died: May 14
 37 
Samuel Phelps
(Actor)
Samuel Phelps
0
Birthdate: February 13, 1804
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Devonport, Plymouth, England
Died: November 6
 38 
Marie Fox
(Published a book about Holland House and its art collection which sold well despite criticism from Abraham Hayward.)
Marie Fox
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: December 21, 1850
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: December 26
 39 
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera
(4th President of the United States of Colombia (1866 - 1867))
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: September 26, 1798
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Popayán, Colombia
Died: October 7
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera was a Colombian statesman, diplomat, and soldier. A multi-talented personality, Mosquera was also a geographer, mathematician, and historian who wrote extensively on these subjects. Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera is best remembered for his service as the President of the United States of Colombia on three occasions between 1863 and 1867.
 40 
Thomas Babington Macaulay
(Was a priest and educator, first princiFormer Paymaster General of the United Kingdompal and founder of CMS Grammar School, Lagos)
Thomas Babington Macaulay
0
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: January 17, 1826
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Kissy, Sierra Leone
Died: January 17
 41 
William Stokes
(Physician)
William Stokes
0
Listed In: Physicians
Birthdate: October 1, 1804
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
Died: January 10
 42 
Thomas Bangs Thorpe
(Humorist)
Thomas Bangs Thorpe
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 1, 1815
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Westfield, Massachusetts, United States
Died: September 20
 43 
Elizabeth Prentiss
(Author)
Elizabeth Prentiss
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: October 26, 1818
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Portland, Maine, United States
Died: August 13
 44 
Karl Gutzkow
(Writer)
Karl Gutzkow
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: March 17, 1811
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: December 16
 45 
Paul Cullen
(Cardinal)
Paul Cullen
0
Birthdate: April 29, 1803
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Narraghmore, County Kildare, Ireland
Died: October 24

Once the archbishop of Dublin, Paul Cullen was also the first Irish cardinal. Although he played a major role in the national movement of 1850–1852, he clashed with extreme nationalists and thus quit his clergy to step into politics. He supported papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council.

 46 
Archduke Franz Karl of Austria
(Archduke of Austria)
Archduke Franz Karl of Austria
1
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: December 17, 1802
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: March 8

Archduke Franz Karl of Austria is best remembered as the father of Maximilian I of Mexico and Franz Joseph I of Austria who served as the emperors of the Second Mexican Empire and Austria respectively. Karl is also remembered as the grandfather of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose murder is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.

 47 
Anna Claypoole Peale
(Painter)
Anna Claypoole Peale
0
Birthdate: March 6, 1791
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: December 25
 48 
Heinrich Leo
(Historian)
Heinrich Leo
0
Birthdate: March 17, 1799
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Rudolstadt, Germany
Died: April 24
 49 
William Thomas
(Poet)
William Thomas
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: April 3, 1832
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Monmouthshire, Wales
Died: November 20

Better known by his pseudonym, Islwyn, Welsh poet William Thomas was also a clergyman. Two of his most-loved poems are both titled The Storm, penned as tributes to his fiancée who had died abruptly. He was the only known author who used the long Welsh poem format in the 19th century.

 50 
Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès
(Politician)
Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès
0
Listed In: Leaders
Birthdate: February 16, 1803
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Marseille, France
Died: October 31