Deaths on December 15

Alfred Bird

Died on December 15, 1878

Alfred Bird, English chemist and businessman, invented baking powder (b. 1811)

Alfred Bird (1811 – 15 December 1878) was an English food manufacturer and chemist. He was born in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, England in 1811 and was later a pupil at King Edward's School, Birmingham. He was the inventor of a series of food products, most notably egg-free custard and baking powder. His father was a lecturer in astronomy at Eton College. His son Alfred Frederick Bird continued to develop the business after his father's death.

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Events on 1878

3 Mar

Treaty of San Stefano
The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; a few months afterwards the Congress of Berlin stripped its status to a vassal principality of the Ottoman Empire.
25 May

Comic opera
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
10 Jun

Treaty of San Stefano
League of Prizren is established, to oppose the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of San Stefano, as a consequence of which the Albanian lands in Balkans were being partitioned and given to the neighbor states of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece.
15 Jun

Sallie Gardner at a Gallop
Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
22 Oct

Salford, Greater Manchester
The first rugby match under floodlights takes place in Salford, between Broughton and Swinton.

Deaths on December 15

Alfred Bird

Died on December 15, 1878

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Events on 1878

Treaty of San Stefano

Comic opera

Treaty of San Stefano

Sallie Gardner at a Gallop

Salford, Greater Manchester