• January 7, 1878: Inauguration of
William E. Smith as the 14th
Governor of Wisconsin. • February 7, 1878:
Pope Pius IX died at the
Apostolic Palace in
Vatican City. • February 28, 1878: The
Bland–Allison Act became law in the United States, with the United States Congress overriding the
veto of The act restored the monetary status of silver coins, a key priority of the
Free silver movement. • March 3, 1878: Cardinal Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci was crowned
Pope Leo XIII. • March 3, 1878: The
Treaty of San Stefano was signed, ending the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and establishing an independent
Principality of Bulgaria. • April 29, 1878: signed the
National Quarantine Act of 1878, which created regulations to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases into the United States. The law also established the
Marine Hospital Service, the forerunner of the
United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the
National Institutes of Health. • June 18, 1878: signed the
Posse Comitatus Act, which limited the power of the President to use the United States military to enforce domestic policies. • July 13, 1878: The
Treaty of Berlin (1878) was signed, making
Serbia,
Montenegro, and
Romania completely independent from the
Ottoman Empire, confirming the independence of Bulgaria, transferring
Cyprus to British control, and allowing
Austria-Hungary to garrison the
Bosnia Vilayet. The treaty settled regional issues left open by the Treaty of San Stefano. • October 1, 1878: The
United States Supreme Court decided the case
Ex parte Jackson, extending Fourth Amendment protections to private letters and packages. ==Major legislation==