This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1878

	February 19th	American inventor, Thomas Edison, was awarded the patent for the phonograph. In its various forms the phonograph (gramophone) was the premier instrument for replaying recorded music up until the 1980's.
	February 21st	The first ever telephone book was published in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. In Europe the first telephone book was published in 1880, in England.
	March 3rd	Bulgaria was liberated after almost 600 years of being part of the Ottoman Empire.
	April 28th	American actor, Lionel Barrymore, was born in Van Nuys, California. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American stage actors of the 19th-20th centuries. He is the great-uncle of actress Drew Barrymore.
	June 4th	The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom.
	October 15th	The Edison Electric Light Company began operations. It was the forefather company of what is today one of the biggest companies in the world, General Electric.
	December 18th	Russian politician, Josef Vissarionovich Stalin, was born in Gori, Georgia. He was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953.
	December 25th	Swiss, Louis Chevrolet, was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. He emigrated to the United States in 1901 where he worked at various major automobile manufacturers as lead mechanic. He was the founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company.

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