Table of Contents
Key Figures — 1778
Notable individuals who shaped the year 1778.
| Topic | Date | Description | |—|—|—| | Voltaire (1694–1778) | 1778-05-30 | The Enlightenment philosopher and advocate of tolerance died in Paris weeks after a triumphant return from 28 years of exile. | | Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) | 1778-07-02 | The political philosopher of the general will and popular sovereignty died at Ermenonville, his ideas poised to shape the French Revolution. |