Pamela Colman Smith, English occultist and illustrator (d. 1951)
Pamela Colman Smith (16 February 1878 – 18 September 1951), also nicknamed Pixie, was a British artist, illustrator, writer, publisher, and occultist. She is best known for illustrating the Rider–Waite tarot deck (also called the Rider–Waite–Smith or Waite–Smith deck) for Arthur Edward Waite. This tarot deck became the standard among tarot card readers, and remains the most widely used today. Colman also illustrated over 20 books, wrote two collections of Jamaican folklore, edited two magazines, and ran the Green Sheaf Press, a small press focused on women writers.
1878Feb, 16
Pamela Colman Smith
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Events on 1878
- 18Feb
Lincoln County War
John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jesse Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico. - 3Mar
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. - 25May
Comic opera
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London. - 15Jun
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. - 22Oct
Salford, Greater Manchester
The first rugby match under floodlights takes place in Salford, between Broughton and Swinton.