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Deaths on February 25

Townsend Harris
1878Feb, 25

Townsend Harris

Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1804)
Townsend Harris (October 4, 1804 – February 25, 1878) was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the "Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the diplomat who first opened Shogunate Japan to foreign trade and culture in the Edo period.

He was portrayed by John Wayne in the 1958 historical adventure drama film The Barbarian and the Geisha.

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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.