1996 - Definition and Overview

1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty.

Events

January

• January 5 - Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
• January 7 - One of the worst blizzards in American history hits eastern states, killing more than 100.
• January 8 - Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital Kinshasa - 350 dead.
• January 9 - Assassination of Eric Hebborn, art forger, in Rome, Italy.
• January 14 - Jorge Sampaio is elected president of Portugal.
• January 20 - Yasser Arafat is elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
• January 22 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece resigns due to health problems. New government forms under Costas Simitis.
• January 24 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charge he spied for Moscow.
• January 26 - Whitewater scandal: Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.
• January 27 - Colonel Ibrahim Bare Mainassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger Mahamane Ousmane in a military coup.
• January 29
  • President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.
  • Fire destroys La Fenice, Venice's opera house.
• January 30 - Suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army Gino Gallagher is killed while in line for his unemployment benefit.
• January 31 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.

February

• February - Iraq disarmament crisis: Recently defected Iraqi weapons program leader and son-in-law to Saddam Hussein, Hussein Kamel, returns to Iraq. Within days of his return, he is murdered along with his brother, father, sister and her children. Kamel had forced Iraq to reveal portions of its illegal nuclear and chemical weapons programs.
• February 1 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
• February 4 - Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ties all-time low temperature at -26°F. (-32°C)
• February 8 - The Telecom Reform Act is signed into law by United States President Bill Clinton.
• February 9 - IRA ceasefire ends with 1 one-ton bomb in London's Canary Wharf district - 2 dead.
• February 10 - Chess computer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time.
• February 17 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats the "Deep Blue" supercomputer in a chess match.
• February 18 - IRA briefcase bomb in London bus kills the bomber and injures 9 in London West End.
• February 29 - Daniel Green convicted of murder of James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan.

March

• March - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces refuse UNSCOM inspection teams access to five sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to 17 hours.
• March 11 - John Howard becomes the twenty-fifth Prime Minister of Australia.
• March 13 - The Dunblane Massacre.
• March 14 - US President Bill Clinton commits $100 million to an anti-terrorism agreement with Israel to track down and root out terrorists.
• March 19 - Sarajevo becomes a united city when Muslim-Croat authorities took control of the last district held by Serbs.
• March 20 - In Los Angeles, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
• March 20 - The British Government announces that Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was likely to have been transmitted to people.
• March 23 - The Republic of China on Taiwan holds its first direct elections for president. Lee Teng-hui is reelected.
• March 25 - An 81-day long standoff between antigovernment Freemen in Jordan, Montana and federal officers begins.
• March 26 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for economic reform.

April

• April 3 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.
• April 3 - The first EuroHowl is held in Aberystwyth, Wales.
• April 3 - A Lunar eclipse occurred.
• April 6 - An overflow crowd of 31,683 at Spartan Stadium witnessed the historic first game for Major League Soccer. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scored the league's first goal in a 1-0 victory over D. C. United.
• April 10 - United States President Bill Clinton vetos a bill that would have banned partial-birth abortion.
• April 18 - Over 100 Lebanese civilians were killed after Israel shelled the UN compound in Qana. See Qana Massacre.
• April 28 - Martin Bryant kills 35 people as part of the Port Arthur Massacre, at the Port Arthur tourist site, Tasmania, Australia.
• April 29 - Official opening of Rent (musical) on Broadway.

May

• May 11 - After taking-off from Miami, a fire started by improperly-handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board.
• May 13 - Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kills 600.
• May 20 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of homosexuals.
• May 23 - Swede Göran Kropp reaches Mount Everest summit alone without oxygen after having bicycled there from Sweden.
• May 27 - First Chechnya War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire in the war.
• May-June - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.

June

• June - Iraq disarmament crisis: As Iraq continues to refuse inspectors access to a number of sites, the U.S. fails in its attempt to build support for military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council.
• Saturday, June 1, 1996 - Tennessee celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
• June 6 - The sons of Darlie Routier, Damon and Devon are stabbed to death in their Rowlett, Texas home. Their mother would later be convicted of the murder.
• June 8 - The 1996 European Football Championships start in England.
• June 10 - Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin
• June 10 - The Colorado Avalanche sweep the Florida Panthers in 4 games in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals.
• June 12 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet. The panel says that the 1996 Communications Decency Act would infringe upon the free speech rights of adults.
• June 13 - An 81-day standoff between the Freemen and FBI agents ends with their surrender in Montana.
• June 15- A large bomb explosion devastates Manchester City Centre.
• June 25 - 19 U.S. servicemen are killed at Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
• June 30 - Costas Simitis is elected President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.

July

• July - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. Inspector Ritter attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport, but is blocked by Iraqi officials.
• July 5 - Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born.
• July 8 - Martina Hingis youngest person in history (age 15 years and 282 days) to win at Wimbledon (Ladies Doubles event).
• July 8 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a hand-delivered document, "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Security the Realm," spelling out how Israel could abrogate the Oslo Accords, and pursue a permanent annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, among other policies. The paper had been prepared for him by Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Doug Feith, David Wurmser and John Bolton.
• July 17 - Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound Boeing 747 carrying TWA flight 800 explodes killing all 230 on board.
• July 18 - 21 - Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec, in one of Canada's most costly natural disasters.
• July 19 - The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is opened by US president Bill Clinton.
• July 27 - The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics kills one and injures 111.
• July 29 - The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a US federal court.
• July 31 - MIL-STD-1750A was declared inactive for use in new designs.

August

• August 4 - The closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics takes place.
• August 6 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms
• August 6 - Australian census
• August 13 - Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicated there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons
• August 28 Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the High Court in London. Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled, Diana, Princess of Wales.
• August 31 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern No-Fly Zone and capture Arbil.

September

• September 4 - War on Drugs: Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.
• September 5 - At Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Van Halen reunites with David Lee Roth at the MTV Video Music Awards.
• September 7 - Rapper Tupac Shakur shot in Las Vegas, Nevada following Mike Tyson bout. He would succumb 6 nights later on September 13.
• September 22 - The Panhellenic Socialist Movement under the leadership of Costas Simitis succeeds in the Greek legislative election, 1996.
• September 25 - The last of the Magdalen Asylums was closed in Ireland.
• September 25 - Nicu Ceausescu dies from cirrhosis of the liver in a Viennese hospital. He was the younger son of Nicolae Ceausescu.
• September 27 - In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

October-November

• October 2 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• October 2 - Assassination of the former prime minister of Bulgaria, Andrei Lukanov
• October 23 - Opening statements in the O.J. Simpson civil trial begin.
• October 31 - Ireland's first Irish language television channel, TG4 (formerly Teilifís na Gaeilge) begins broadcasting.
• October/November (sources vary) - Al-Jazeera, Arabic television news channel based in Qatar, starts broadcasting.
• November - Bill Clinton defeats Bob Dole in the U.S. presidential election.
• November - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspectors uncover buried prohibited missile parts. Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM teams to remove remnants of missile engines for analysis outside of the country
• November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1996: Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton defeats Republican challenger Bob Dole to win his second term.
• November 7 - NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
• November 15 - Alger Hiss, former U.S. State Department official
• November 16 - Mother Teresa receives honorary US citizenship.
• November 18 - World-renowned bird expert Tony Silva is sentenced to seven years in prison without parole for leading an illegal parrot smuggling ring.

December

• December 2 - US President Bill Clinton signs Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments.
• December 5 - Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan gives a speech in which he suggests that "irrational exuberance" may have "unduly escalated asset values".
• December 12 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
• December 17 - Tupac Amaru takes 5000 hostages in Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru
• December 26 - JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen, was found murdered in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado.
• December 27 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
• December 29 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord that ends a 36 year a civil war
• December 30 - In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists killing 26.
• December 30 - Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.

Unknown date

• id Software releases the first person shooter computer game Quake. (September)
• Web comic Sabrina Online first published.
• Ask Jeeves formed.

Year in topic

• 1996 in film
  • December 6 - Daylight starring Sylvester Stallone
  • The English Patient
  • Fargo
• 1996 in literature
• 1996 in music
• 1996 in rail transport
• 1996 in science
• 1996 in sports
  • January 28 - Super Bowl XXX Dallas Cowboys (27) def. Pittsburgh Steelers (17)
• 1996 in television
  • The O. J. Simpson civil trial begins
  • Zenith Electronics Corporation introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S.. Broadcasters, TV & PC manufacturers set industry standards for digital HDTV.
  • Over a billion households worldwide now own television sets.

Births

• July 5 - Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal

Deaths

January-February

• January 2 - Karl Targownik, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist
• January 5 - Yahya Ayyash, terrorist
• January 8 - François Mitterrand, French politician and President of France.
• January 17 - Amber Hagerman, kidnapping, murder victim (b. 1986)
• January 17 - Barbara Jordan, politician
• January 18 - Leonor Fini, Argentinian/Italian artist
• January 20 - Gerry Mulligan, musician
• January 28 - Jerry Siegel, cartoonist, creator of "Superman"
• February 2 - Gene Kelly, actor
• February 3 - Audrey Meadows, actress
• February 6 - Guy Madison, actor
• February 11 - Amelia Rosselli, poet.
• February 11 - Bob Shaw, science fiction writer.
• February 11 - Cyril Poole, English cricket player.
• February 11 - Kebby Musokotwane, prime minister of Zambia (1985-1989).
• February 11 - Phil Regan, actor
• February 16 - Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California
• February 16 - Brownie McGhee, blues singer
• February 20 - Toru Takemitsu, composer
• February 25 - Haing S. Ngor, actor

March-June

• March 4 - Minnie Pearl, country music performer
• March 9 - George Burns, actor, singer
• March 10 - Rosse Hunter, producer
• March 13 - Krzysztof Kieslowski, film director
• March 17 - René Clément, French film director
• March 26 - David Packard, engineer
• April 4 - Larry LaPrise, songwriter
• April 4 - Barney Ewell, American athlete
• April 6 - Greer Garson, actress
• April 20 - Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne, basis for the Winnie the Pooh character Christopher Robin
• April 22 - Erma Bombeck, humorist, writer
• April 26 - Stirling Silliphant, writer, producer
• May 5 - Salli Terri, mezzo soprano
• May 17 - Kevin Gilbert, musician, composer and record producer
• May 20 - Jon Pertwee, actor
• May 24 - Joseph Mitchell, American writer
• May 25 - Brad Nowell, musician
• May 31 - Paul Peter Piech, artist
• June 2 - Ray Combs, game show host, comedian
• June 6 - Damon Routier, son of Darlie Routier
• June 6 - Devon Routier, son of Darlie Routier
• June 15 - Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer
• June 17 - Thomas Kuhn, philosopher of science
• June 19 - G. David Schine, investigator and businessman
• June 23 - Andreas Papandreou, Greek politician.

July-December

• July 28 - Roger Tory Peterson, naturalist, artist, educator
• July 30 - Claudette Colbert, actress
• August 11 - Rafael Kubelik, Czech conductor (b. 1914)
• August 13 - David Tudor, pianist and composer
• September 13 - Tupac Shakur, rapper, poet, actor
• October 4 - Silvio Piola, 83, all-time highest Serie A goalscorer
• November 26 - Paul Rand, famous American graphic designer of corporate logos
• November 26 - Mark Lenard, actor
• November 30 - Tiny Tim, musician
• December 6 - Alvin "Pete" Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League (b. 1926)
• December 11 - Willie Rushton, UK comedian, satirist, actor and cartoonist
• December 20 - Carl Sagan - US astronomer

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - David M. Lee, Douglas D. Osheroff, Robert C. Richardson
• Chemistry - Robert Curl, Sir Harold Kroto, Richard Smalley
• Medicine - Peter C Doherty, Rolf M Zinkernagel
• Literature - Wislawa Szymborska
• Peace - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos Horta

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

• James Mirrlees, William Vickrey

Right Livelihood Award

• Herman Daly, The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishat and George Vithoulkas