December 31st, 1878

Born on December 31st, 1878

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 53,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 930 days, exactly on November 5th, 2026, people who were born on December 31st, 1878 will be 54,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on December 31st, 1878?

December 31st, 1878

Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Benz

What else happened on December 31st?

December 31st, 1950

Korean War: North Korean troops attacked United Nations forces in the first of two battles at Wonju.

December 31st, 2010

28 tornadoes (one depicted) touched down in midwestern and southern United States, part of an outbreak that led to the deaths of nine people and large property damage.

December 31st, 1999

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin became acting president upon President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation.

December 31st, 1998

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the exchange rates of the legacy currencies in the eurozone, establishing the value of the euro.

December 31st, 1993

Brandon Teena, an American trans man, was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska; his death led to increased lobbying for hate crime laws in the United States.

December 31st, 1986

Three disgruntled employees set fire to the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing more than 90 people and injuring 140 others, making it the second-deadliest hotel fire in United States history.

December 31st, 1972

Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of that year's Nicaragua earthquake.

December 31st, 1965

Central African military officers led by Jean-Bédel Bokassa began a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.

December 31st, 1961

RTÉ, Ireland's first television network, began broadcasting.

December 31st, 1909

The Manhattan Bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, opened to traffic.

December 31st, 1907

New York City held its first annual ball drop event in Times Square as part of New Year's Eve celebrations.

December 31st, 1862

The Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, began with an engagement in which both sides would suffer their highest casualty rates in the American Civil War.

December 31st, 1857

Queen Victoria announced the choice of Ottawa (pictured), then a small logging town, to be the capital of the British colony of Canada.

December 31st, 1775

American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed an attack by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French Canadian support.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on December 31st

Born on December 31st, 1878

87

Elizabeth Arden

Canadian American businesswoman

*December 31st, 1878, Woodbridge †October 18th, 1966, New York City

58

Horacio Quiroga

Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer

*December 31st, 1878, Salto †February 19th, 1937, Buenos Aires

Same Day
Who's birthday is on December 31st?

84

Henri Matisse

French artist (1869–1954)

*December 31st, 1869, Le Cateau-Cambrésis †November 3rd, 1954, Nice

78

Vernon Wells

Australian actor

*December 31st, 1945, Rushworth

78

George Marshall

American army officer and statesman (1880–1959)

*December 31st, 1880, Uniontown †October 16th, 1959, Washington, D.C.

65

Ferdinand Noack

German classical archaeologist and classical philologist (1865-1931)

*December 31st, 1865, Burgholzhausen vor der Höhe †September 21st, 1931, Berlin

53

Viktor Dyk

Czech poet, prose writer, playwright, politician and political writer (1877-1931)

*December 31st, 1877, Pšovka †May 14th, 1931, Lopud

31

Manu Attri

Badminton player

*December 31st, 1992, Meerut

86

Anthony Hopkins

Welsh actor and director (born 1937)

*December 31st, 1937, Port Talbot

96

Simon Wiesenthal

Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter

*December 31st, 1908, Buchach †September 20th, 2005, Vienna

57

Rudy Gunawan

Badminton player

*December 31st, 1966, Surakarta City

49

Bas Böttcher

German writer and poetry slam performer

*December 31st, 1974, Bremen

76

Umm Kulthum

Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress

*December 31st, 1898, Tamay Ez-Zahayra †February 3rd, 1975, Cairo

89

Lawrence Beesley

British Titanic survivor

*December 31st, 1877, Wirksworth †February 14th, 1967, London

69

Guy Mollet

French politician (1905-1975)

*December 31st, 1905, Flers †October 3rd, 1975, 7th arrondissement of Paris

88

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

King of Saudi Arabia since 2015

*December 31st, 1935, Riyadh

67

Vaughan Jones

New Zealand mathematician and Fields Medalist

*December 31st, 1952, Gisborne †September 6th, 2020, Nashville

70

James Remar

American actor

*December 31st, 1953, Boston

93

Francesco Alberoni

Italian journalist and professor of sociology (1929–2023)

*December 31st, 1929, Borgonovo Val Tidone †August 14th, 2023, Milan

65

Bebe Neuwirth

American actress

*December 31st, 1958, Newark

80

Ben Kingsley

English actor

*December 31st, 1943, Snainton

88

Giovanni Boldini

Italian painter (1842-1931)

*December 31st, 1842, Ferrara †January 12th, 1931, Paris

Same year
Born in 1878

81

Dorothea Douglass

English tennis and badminton player

*September 3rd, 1878, Ealing †January 7th, 1960, Kensington

74

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953

*December 18th, 1878, Gori †March 5th, 1953, Kuntsevo Dacha

86

Ernst Rodenwaldt

German racial hygienist, university teacher and military physician (1878-1965)

*August 5th, 1878, Berlin †June 4th, 1965, Ruhpolding

87

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders

German politician (1878–1966)

*June 25th, 1878, Berlin †March 23rd, 1966, West Berlin

63

Walter Otto

German historian

*May 30th, 1878, Wrocław †November 1st, 1941, Munich

64

Janusz Korczak

Polish educator (1878-1942)

*July 22nd, 1878, Warsaw †August 7th, 1942, Treblinka extermination camp

89

Carl Sandburg

American writer and editor

*January 6th, 1878, Galesburg †July 22nd, 1967, Flat Rock

74

Ferenc Molnár

Hungarian-born dramatist and novelist (1878-1952)

*January 12th, 1878, Budapest †April 1st, 1952, New York City

51

Gustav Stresemann

German politician, statesman, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1878-1929)

*May 10th, 1878, Berlin †October 3rd, 1929, Berlin

98

Eileen Gray

Irish architect and designer (1878-1976)

*August 9th, 1878, Enniscorthy †October 31st, 1976, 14th arrondissement of Paris

56

Erich Mühsam

German-Jewish anarchist writer (1878–1934)

*April 6th, 1878, Berlin †July 10th, 1934, Oranienburg concentration camp

51

Pierre Fatou

French mathematician and astronomer

*February 28th, 1878, Lorient †August 9th, 1929, Pornichet

48

Albert Corey

French long distance runner (1878-1926)

*April 16th, 1878, Meursault †August 3rd, 1926, Paris

77

Paul Renner

German type designer (1878–1959)

*August 9th, 1878, Wernigerode †April 25th, 1956, Überlingen

89

Lise Meitner

Austrian-Swedish physicist

*November 7th, 1878, Vienna †October 27th, 1968, Cambridge

87

Martin Buber

German Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian (1878–1965)

*February 8th, 1878, Vienna †June 13th, 1965, Jerusalem

74

Julia Dean

Actress (1878-1952)

*May 13th, 1878, Saint Paul †October 17th, 1952, Hollywood

45

Pancho Villa

Mexican revolutionary (1878-1923)

*June 5th, 1878, San Juan del Río, Durango †July 20th, 1923, Hidalgo del Parral

73

Owen Johnson

American novelist and short story writer

*August 27th, 1878, New York City †January 27th, 1952, Massachusetts

78

Alfred Döblin

German expressionist novelist

*August 10th, 1878, Szczecin †June 26th, 1957, Emmendingen

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on December 31st

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day, New Year's Eve) which are celebrated on December 31st.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1878 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
December 1878