1996

Year 1996 () was a (link will display full 1996 ).

The year 1996 was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. It was also the of the , a year traditionally feared for.

January

 * - operative  is killed by an i-planted ped.
 * - One of the worst s in American history hits the eastern states, killing more than 100 people.
 * - A an cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital - 350 dead.
 * - Art forger is assassinated in,.




 * - is elected president of.
 * - is re-elected president of the.
 * -, , resigns due to health problems; a new government forms under.
 * - The first version of the is released.
 * - Polish Premier resigns amid charges that he spied for.
 * - : U.S. First Lady testifies before a grand jury.
 * - U.S. millionaire shoots wrestler.
 * - Colonel deposes the first democratically elected president of, , in a military coup.


 * - The become the first NFL franchise to win 3 s in a span of 4 seasons, as they defeat the  27-17 in  at  in, .  It is the  5th  championship.
 * - President announces a "definitive end" to French.
 * - Fire destroys, 's opera house.
 * - : A is hoisted on a small rocky island named   / Kardak.
 * - leader  is killed in an internal feud, while in line for his unemployment benefits.
 * - - is caned in the.
 * - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in, , killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.

February

 * - An IRA ceasefire ends with a 1-ton bomb in London's, killing 2 and causing over 1 billion pounds worth of damage.
 * - Discovery of the element
 * - "" defeats world  champion  for the first time.
 * - In south-west, the oil tanker runs aground, spilling 73,000 tonnes of crude oil, killing many birds.
 * - The U.S. Embassy in comes under mortar fire.
 * - A at the  launch site in  crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing 500.
 * - In, beats "" in a second  match.
 * - An IRA briefcase bomb in a bus kills the bomber and injures 9 in the.
 * - In, Daniel Green is convicted of the murder of , the father of basketball star.

March

 * - : Iraqi forces refuse inspection teams access to 5 sites designated for inspection.   The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to 17 hours.
 * - is elected  in a landslide, over the.
 * - Ranabima Royal College, Sri Lanka, is established.
 * - is the new  president.
 * - The : Unemployed former shopkeeper walks into the Dunblane Primary School in  and opens fire, killing 16 students and 1 teacher before fatally shooting himself.
 * - wins the Cricket World Cup by storming to a famous victory against the tournament favourite.
 * - becomes a united city again when  authorities take control of the last district held by.
 * - In, are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
 * - The announces that  has been likely transmitted to people.
 * - The on  holds its first direct elections for president;  is re-elected.
 * - An 81-day long standoff between antigovernment in  and federal officers begins.
 * - The approves a $10.2 billion loan to  for economic reform.
 * - Fire breaks out at the Pasar Anyar shopping centre in, .  The first death toll estimate is 78 until rescuers notice that 68 of them are s.
 * - Three soldiers are found guilty of the manslaughter of  tour guide  in .,  and  receive life sentences for their crime, which was committed in.
 * - The government is re-elected in  with a 30 seat majority.

April

 * - The in  is created.
 * - U.S.  is found guilty of murdering.
 * - A plane carrying Commerce Secretary  crashes near,.
 * - Suspected "Unabomber" is arrested at his  cabin.
 * - A occurs.
 * - kicks off in front of an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed  to witness the historic first game.  forward  scored the league's first goal in a 1-0 victory over.
 * -, aged 7, is killed in a crash near while attempting to set a record as the youngest person to pilot an airplane across the United States.
 * - The NBA's 1995-1996, with 's lead, go on to set a new NBA record for the most wins in a season, achieving their 70th win.
 * - : Over 100 civilians are killed after Israel shells the  compound in.
 * - : kills 35 people at the  tourist site,.

May

 * : UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.
 * - dedication of the telescope
 * - A sudden storm engulfs with several climbing teams high on the mountain, leaving 8 dead.   By the end of the month, at least 4 other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.
 * - After takeoff from, a fire started by improperly-handled canisters in the cargo hold of -bound  causes the  to crash in the , killing all 110 on board.
 * - Severe s and a in  kill 600.
 * - : The rules () against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of  from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of.
 * - The  sinks in n waters in, killing nearly 1,000 in one of 's worst maritime disasters.
 * - The  are executed.
 * - Swede reaches the  summit alone without, after having bicycled there from.
 * - : n President meets with n rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire in the war.
 * - decides to give the, the first World Cup in , to  and , becoming the first World Cup with co-host countries in the history of the event.

June

 * : 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.
 * - An gang murders Detective Garda  during a botched armed robbery in Adare,.
 * - defeats  in the longest ever women's final at the  to win her 19th  title.
 * - Peace talks begin in without.
 * - The win their first Stanley Cup in their first season based out of, defeating the  4 games to none. Avalanche captain  wins the  as playoff MVP.
 * - In, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the .  The panel says that the 1996  would infringe upon the  rights of adults.
 * - An 81-day standoff between the and  agents ends with their surrender in.
 * - In, , a and devastates a large part of the city centre.
 * - The win their 4th  by defeating the  in the best-of-7 series 4 games to 2.
 * - The video game system is released in.
 * - The in  kills 19 U.S. servicemen.
 * - Journalist is shot and killed in her car just outside.
 * - concert is held in, and is attended by 150,000 people.  headlines the event in their first performance since.
 * - is elected President of the  of.
 * - beats the  2-1 with a  to win.

July

 * : U.N. Inspector attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport, but is blocked by i officials.
 * The declares the principles of the  movement.
 * - The in  legalises voluntary.
 * -, the first to be successfully  from an adult , is born at the  in ,.
 * - becomes the youngest person in  (age 15 years and 282 days) to win at  in the Ladies' Doubles event.
 * - -bound  explodes off the coast of, killing all 230 on board.
 * - Howard Hughes is sentenced to life imprisonment at  for the rape and murder of 7-year-old  at  12 months previously. The trial judge recommends that Hughes, 31, should never be released.
 * - The in, , is opened by U.S. President.
 * - Storms provoke severe ing on the in, in one of 's most costly s.
 * - The at the  kills 1 and injures 111.
 * - The child protection portion of the (1996) is struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court.

August

 * - returns to the.
 * - The conclude.
 * - announces that the  meteorite, thought to originate from, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
 * - The n is conducted.
 * - Heavy rains kill more than 80 campers near,.
 * - The British rock band plays the biggest free-standing concert in UK history at Knebworth, Hertfordshire.
 * - Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicates there may be on one of 's moons.
 * - is nominated for President, and  for Vice President, at the  in,.
 * - writes "The Declaration of Jihad on the Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Sacred Places," his first open call for war.
 * - Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the in .   Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled.
 * - U.S. President and Vice President  are renominated at the  in.
 * - : Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern and capture Arbil.
 * - The is inaugurated with a football game between  and  in.

September

 * - The (established 1883) plays its last game ever in the, against  at . The following season the club merges with the , ending a long history of the club in the.
 * - A permanent peace agreement is signed at the between the  and the.
 * - The U.S. launches against  in reaction to the attack on Arbil.
 * - : The attack a military base in, , starting 3 weeks of  that will claim the lives of at least 130 ns.
 * - Rap legend is shot in  following the  bout; he died 6 days later on.
 * - The scoreboard at Buffalo's US$127.5 million dollar falls to the ice just hours before a  game; no one is injured.
 * - The under the leadership of  succeeds in the 1996 Greek legislative election.
 * - U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the at the.
 * - The last of the s is closed in.
 * - In, the capture the capital city of , after driving out President  and executing former leader.

October

 * - The are signed by U.S. President.
 * - The former prime minister of, Andrei Lukanov, is assassinated.
 * - The gains 40.62 to close at 6,010.00, the Dow's first close above 6,000.
 * - The civil trial begins in.
 * - The defeat the  in 6 games to win their 23rd  title.  is named  (MVP) of the series.
 * - Fighting erupts when Banyamulenga s of in  seize  and proceed to kill  refugees.

November

 * : 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
 * - : incumbent  defeats  challenger  to win his second term.
 * - A devastating  strikes, . The storm surge sweeps fishing villages out to sea, over 2,000 people die. 95 percent of the crops are completely destroyed.
 * - launches the.
 * - Rapper, born Yafeu Fula, is shot to death in at the age of 19.
 * - Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 has a mid-air collision with Kazakhstan Airlines Il-76, resulting in the loss of 349 lives.
 * - in  is re-opened to pedestrian traffic.
 * - receives honorary U.S. citizenship.
 * - World-renowned expert Tony Silva is sentenced to 7 years in prison without  for leading an illegal  smuggling ring.
 * - Martyn Bryant is sentenced to life imprisonment, 2 weeks after confessing to murdering 35 people in earlier this year.
 * - : was the longest mission of the, flew by.
 * - A  in  kills 33.
 * - The officially joins the, as Angola.
 * - is hijacked, then crashes into the  off the coast of  after running out of fuel, killing 125.
 * - The defeat the  43-37 to win the  at  in . The game is notable for the heavy snowfall that took place which the game was dubbed "The Snow Bowl" as a result.
 * - An strikes the U.S., killing 26 directly, hundreds more from accidents.   A powerful windstorm blasts ; winds gust to 90 mph.
 * - The U.S., especially the , gains at an incredibly fast pace following the 1996 Presidential election. It gains 10 days in a row during the month.

December

 * - U.S. President signs the.
 * - Chairman  gives a speech in which he suggests that "" may have "unduly escalated asset values".
 * - is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
 * - The takes 72 hostages in the ese Embassy in,.
 * - 's company is bought by, the company co-founded by Jobs.
 * - Start of the in n history.
 * - Six-year-old is murdered in the basement of her parents' home in.
 * - forces retake the strategic, which solidifies their buffer zone around.
 * - and the leaders of the  sign a peace accord that ends a 36-year.
 * - In the n state of, a passenger train is bombed by separatists, killing 26.
 * - Proposed budget cuts by spark protests from 250,000 workers, who shut down services across.
 * - The is merged with the  to form the, making it one of the largest railroad mergers in U.S. history.

Undated

 * launched. The EV1 is the first electric car to go into mass production.
 * a Finnish instumental band

Ongoing

 * The revolution.

Fictional
The following are references to year 1996 in fiction:
 * The 1991 film  starting and  takes place in 1996.

Births

 * -, American actress
 * -, English/Russian actor
 * -, English actress
 * -, Japanese singer
 * -, American actor
 * -, South African actress
 * -, American actor
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, Canadian actress
 * -, first cloned mammal (d. )
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, Filipina actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, Filipina actress
 * -, Filipina actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress and singer
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actress

January

 * -, Hungarian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor (b. )
 * -, Palestinian terrorist (b. )
 * -, (b. )
 * -, Indian actress and stuntwoman (b. )
 * -, Pakistani film actor (b. )
 * -, American musician and composer (b. )
 * - Paramount Chief (b. )
 * -, American politician (b. )
 * -, Argentine artist (b. )
 * -, Indian (Telugu) film actor (b. )
 * -, American musician (b. )
 * -, American composer and playwright (b. )
 * -, Russian-born poet, laureate (b. )
 * -, American cartoonist (b. )
 * -, American mathematician and engineer (b. )

February

 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, American actress (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, Russian composer (b. )
 * -, (b. )
 * -, English cricketer (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, Italian poet (b. )
 * -, Irish writer (b. )
 * -, English football manager (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, Governor of California (b. )
 * -, American musician (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, Japanese composer (b. )
 * -, American musician and composer (b. )
 * -, Cambodian actor (murdered) (b. )
 * -, Polish composer (b. )

March

 * -, French author and director (b. )
 * -, American comedian (b. )
 * -, American actor and singer (b. )
 * -, Polish film director (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, French film director (b. )
 * -, Greek writer, laureate (b. )
 * -, American nurse theorist (b. )
 * -, Chinese mathematician (b. )
 * -, British radio personality (b. )
 * -, American engineer (b. )
 * -, Czech-born writer, director, producer, teacher (b. )
 * -, American musician ( and ) (b. )

April

 * -, theater director and musician (b. )
 * -, American politician (b. )
 * -, American athlete (b. )
 * -, American songwriter (b. )
 * -, English actress (b. )
 * -, American businessman (b. )
 * -, English author and bookseller (b. )
 * -, Chechen President (b. )
 * -, American humorist and writer (b. )
 * -, American graphic designer (b. )
 * -, American screenwriter and producer (b. )

May

 * -, Canadian mezzo-soprano (b. )
 * -, New Zealand mountaineer (b. )
 * -, American judge (b. )
 * -, American musician, composer, and record producer (b. )
 * -, American race car driver (b. )
 * -, British actor (b. )
 * -, American musician and producer (b. )
 * -, hockey team owner (b. )
 * -, American composer (b. )
 * -, American writer (b. )
 * -, American musician (b. )
 * -, American writer, psychologist, and advocate of psychedelic drug research and use (b. )

June

 * -, American game show host, and comedian (suicide) (b. )
 * -, English children's author (b. )
 * -, American geneticist, recipient of the (b. )
 * -, Austrian painter (b. )
 * -, American singer (b. )
 * -, American philosopher of science (b. )
 * -, American businessman (b. )
 * -, (b. )
 * -, Irish journalist (murdered) (b. )
 * -, film producer (b. )

July

 * -, America politician (b. )
 * -, Indian film actor (b. )
 * -, Salvation Army general (b. )
 * -, musician (b. )
 * -, American race car driver (b. )
 * -, American actress (b. )
 * -, Czech footballer (b. )
 * -, American naturalist and artist (b. )
 * -, American actress (b. )

August

 * -, Polish-born chemist, recipient of the (b. )
 * -, Uruguayan footballer (b. )
 * -, English physicist, laureate (b. )
 * -, Czech-born conductor (b. )
 * -, American pianist and composer (b. )

September

 * -, Danish composer (b. )
 * -, American "father of " music (b. )
 * -, Austrian inventor and automotive pioneer (b. )
 * -, American rapper and actor (b. )
 * -, American Vice President (b. )
 * -, Hungarian mathematician (b. )
 * -, Dutch Catholic priest and author (b. )
 * -, English chemist, laureate (b. )
 * -, son of n leader (b. 1951)
 * -, British TV comedian & game show host (b. )

October

 * -, member (b. )
 * -, Italian footballer (b. )
 * -, American child murderer (executed by electric chair)
 * -, French tennis player (b. )
 * -, English novelist (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, Gaelic poet
 * -, American actor and comedian (b. )
 * -, British actor who worked with

November

 * -, American vocalist (b. )
 * -, Turkish nationalist (b. )
 * - of / (b. )
 * -, rapper (b. )
 * -, Chechen bard (b. )
 * -, actress (b. )
 * -, U.S. State Department official (b. )
 * -, Pakistani physicist, laureate (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, American graphic designer (b. )
 * -, American musician (b. )

December

 * -, (b. )
 * -, American commissioner of the National Football League (b. )
 * -, English comedian, actor, and cartoonist (b. )
 * -, English biographer and art historian (b. )
 * -, American astronomer (b. )
 * -, child beauty queen and murder victim (b. )
 * -, American actor (b. )

Unknown dates

 * (none)

Environmental

 * The  is found in.

Nobel prizes

 * - and
 * - and
 * - and
 * - and
 * - and

Right Livelihood Award

 * ,, and

Fields Medal

 * (unknown)