Editing 1878 in science (section)

==Technology==
* February 19 – The [[phonograph]] is patented by [[Thomas Edison]]. The oldest known audio recording is recovered from this device in 2012.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rosen|first=Rebecca J.|date=2012-10-26|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/scientists-recover-the-sounds-of-19th-century-music-and-laughter-from-the-oldest-playable-american-recording/264147/#.UJFzCnboreA.facebook|title=Scientists Recover the Sounds of 19th-Century Music and Laughter From the Oldest Playable American Recording|work=The Atlantic|accessdate=2013-06-15}}</ref>
* March – The 'basic' process, enabling the use of [[Phosphorus|phosphoric]] [[iron ore]] in [[steelmaking]], developed at [[Blaenavon Ironworks]] by [[Percy Gilchrist]] and [[Sidney Gilchrist Thomas]], is first made public.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biography.wales/article/s-THOM-GIL-1850|first=William Llewelyn|last=Davies|title=Thomas, Sidney Gilchrist|work=Welsh Biography Online|year=2009|accessdate=2012-11-09}}</ref>
* May 22 – [[John Philip Holland]]'s experimental powered [[submarine]] ''[[Holland I]]'' is launched in [[Paterson, New Jersey]].
* June 15 – [[Eadweard Muybridge]] produces the sequence of stop-motion still photographs ''[[Sallie Gardner at a Gallop]]'' in [[California]], a predecessor of [[silent film]] (capable of being viewed as an animation on a [[zoopraxiscope]]) demonstrating that all four feet of a [[Horse gait#Gallop|galloping horse]] are off the ground at the same time.
* August – [[Cleopatra's Needle (London)|Cleopatra's Needle]] is raised onto its base in [[London]].
* October 14 – The world's first recorded floodlit football fixture is played at [[Bramall Lane]] in [[Sheffield]].
* December 18 – [[Joseph Swan]] of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] in [[England]] announces his invention of an [[incandescent light bulb]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Stephen|last=van Dulken|title=Inventing the 19th Century: the great age of Victorian inventions|location=London|publisher=[[British Library]]|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7123-0881-6|page=80}}</ref>
* December 31 – [[Karl Benz]] produces a two-stroke [[gas engine]].
* [[William Crookes]] invents the [[Crookes tube]] which produces [[cathode ray]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hutchinson Factfinder|publisher=Helicon|year=1999|isbn=978-1-85986-000-7 }}</ref>
* Osbourn Dorsey obtains a [[patent]] in the [[United States]] for a "door-holding device".<ref>210,762.</ref>
* Gustav Kessel obtains a [[patent]] in [[Germany]] for an [[espresso machine]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Invention of the Espresso Machine|url=http://baristasroasting.com/page87.html|publisher=Barista's Roasting Co|accessdate=2012-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428183530/http://baristasroasting.com/page87.html|archive-date=2012-04-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Czech painter [[Karel Klíč]] perfects the [[photogravure]] process.
* [[Lester Allan Pelton]] produces the first operational [[Pelton wheel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=12863|title=Miners Foundry – Allans Machine Shop Founded 1856|work=Historical Marker Database|accessdate=2011-09-03}}</ref>
* [[E. Remington and Sons|Remington]], in the United States, introduce their No. 2 [[typewriter]], the first with a [[shift key]] enabling production of [[Letter case|lower]] as well as upper case characters.