Editing 1678 (section)

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 10]] &ndash; England and the Dutch Republic sign a mutual defense treaty in order to fight against France.
* [[January 27]] &ndash; The first [[fire engine]] company in [[North America]] goes into service in [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cannon|first=Donald J.|title=The Chronicle of Early American Industries |date=1944 |publisher=Early American Industries Association |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYaP8OqlTs4C&q=1678 |access-date=11 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[February 18]] &ndash; The first part of English [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] preacher [[John Bunyan]]'s [[Christianity|Christian]] [[allegory]] ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]'' is published in London.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Bookworm: An Illustrated Treasury of Old-time Literature |date=1888 |publisher=Harvard University |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QxsDAAAAYAAJ |access-date=11 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[March 21]] &ndash; [[Thomas Shadwell]]'s comedy ''[[A True Widow]]'' is given its first performance, at [[Dorset Garden Theatre|The Duke's Theatre]] in London, staged by the [[Duke's Company]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dryden |first1=John |title=The Poetical Works of John Dryden: Edited with a Memoir, Revised Text, and Notes |date=1893 |publisher=Macmillan and Company |page=437 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCMRAAAAYAAJ&dq=A+True+Widow+march+21+1678+dorset+garden+theatre&pg=PA437 |access-date=11 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[March 23]] &ndash; [[Revolt of the Three Feudatories]] in [[southern China]]: rebel general [[Wu Sangui]], lord of the [[Yunnan]] fief, takes the imperial crown, names himself monarch of "The Great Zhou", based in the [[Hunan]] province, with [[Hengyang]] as his capital. He contracts dysentery over the summer and dies on October 2, ending the rebellion against the [[Kangxi Emperor]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Romantics, Stoics and Martyrs|first=Frederic|last=Wakeman|journal=Journal of Asian Studies|date=August 1984|pages=631–665|doi=10.2307/2057148 |jstor=2057148 }} Repr. in ''Telling Chinese History: A Selection of Essays''. University of California Press, 2009. p. 123.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Atwill|first=David G.|title=The Chinese Sultanate: Islam, Ethnicity, and the Panthay Rebellion in Southwest China, 1856-1873|year=2005|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-5159-9|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Da2M_viEclEC&q=1678&pg=PP17|access-date=2023-03-13}}</ref>
* [[March 25]] &ndash; The [[Spanish Netherlands]] city of [[Ypres]] falls after [[Siege of Ypres (1678)|a seven-day siege]] by the French Army. It is later returned to the Netherlands and eventually becomes part of [[Belgium]].
* [[March 28]] &ndash; The [[nova]] [[V529 Orionis]] is discovered by Polish astronomer [[Johannes Hevelius]] (Jan Heweliusz).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidtobreick |first1=L. |last2=Tappert |first2=C. |last3=Bianchini |first3=A. |last4=Mennickent |first4=R. E. |title=Spectroscopic analysis of tremendous-outburst-nova candidates |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |date=27 October 2004 |volume=432 |pages=199–205 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20041371 |s2cid=18168602 |url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full/2005/10/aa1371/aa1371.html |access-date=11 March 2023|doi-access=free |arxiv=astro-ph/0411198 }}</ref>