1996
Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar).
The year 1996 was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. It was also the Chinese New Year of the Rat, a year traditionally feared for natural disasters.
Events of 1996
January
- January 1 - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia temporarily gives power to Crown Prince Abdullah, his legal successor, due to illness.
- January 3 - Motorola introduces the Motorola StarTAC Wearable Cellular Telephone, the world's smallest and lightest mobile phone at that time.
- January 4 - Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, appoints a new government in response to accusations of corruption in the parliamentary elections in late 1995.
- 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 the eastern states, killing more than 100 people. Philadelphia, PA received a record 30.7 inches of snowfall.
- January 8 - A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital Kinshasa - 350 dead.
- January 9 - Art forger Eric Hebborn is assassinated in Rome, Italy.
- January 9 to 20 - Serious fighting breaks out between Russian soldiers and rebel fighters in Chechnya.
- January 11 - Ryutaro Hashimoto, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, becomes Prime Minister of Japan
- January 13 - Italy's prime minister, Lamberto Dini, resigns after the failure of all-party talks to confirm him. New talks are initiated by president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro to form a new government.
- January 14 - Jorge Sampaio is elected president of Portugal.
- January 16 - President of Sierra Leone Valentine Strasser is deposed by the chief of defence, Julius Maada Bio. Bio promises to restore power following elections scheduled for February.
- January 19 - North Cape Oil Spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat "Scandia" ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The North Cape Barge is pulled along with it and leaks 820,000 gallons of home heating oil.
- January 19 - An Indonesian ferry sinks off the northern tip of Sumatra, drowning more than 100 people.
- January 20 - Yasser Arafat is re-elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
Yasser Arafat
- January 22 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, resigns due to health problems; a new government forms under Costas Simitis.
- January 23 - The first version of the Java programming language is released.
- January 24 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow. He is replaced by W?odzimierz Cimoszewicz.
- January 26 - Whitewater scandal: U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.
- January 27 - Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
- January 28 - The Dallas Cowboys become the first NFL franchise to win 3 Super Bowls in a span of 4 seasons, as they defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. It is the Cowboys 5th Super Bowl championship.
- January 29 - President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.
- January 29 - Fire destroys La Fenice, Venice's opera house.
- January 29 - Imia-Kardak crisis: A Greek flag is hoisted on a small rocky island named Imia (Greek) / Kardak (Turkish).
- January 30 - Irish National Liberation Army leader Gino Gallagher is killed in an internal feud, while in line for his unemployment benefits.
- January 30-February 5 - Sarah Balabagan is caned in the United Arab Emirates.
- 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.
- January 31 - An explosion in Shaoyang, China kills 122 and injures over 400 when 10 tons of dynamite in an illegal explosives warehouse underneath an apartment building detonate.
- January 31 - A bomb planted by the Tamil Tigers explodes in Colombo, killing 88 and injuring hundreds more.
February
- February 4 - An earthquake near Lijiang in southwest China measuring up to 7 on the Richter scale kills at least 240 people, injuring more than 14,000 and making hundreds of thousands homeless.
- February 6 - A Birgenair Boeing 757 on an unauthorised charter flight from the Caribbean to Germany crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 passengers and crew. See Birgenair Flight 301.
- February 7 - Rene Preval succeeds Jean-Bertrande Aristide as president of Haiti in the first peaceful handover of power since the nation achieved independence.
- February 8 - An IRA ceasefire ends with a 1-ton bomb in London's Canary Wharf District, killing 2 and causing over 1 billion pounds worth of damage.
- February 9 - Discovery of the element Ununbium
- February 10 - Chess computer "Deep Blue" defeats world chess champion Garry Kasparov for the first time.
- February 10 - Bosnian Serbs break off contact with the Bosnia government and with representatives of Ifor, the NATO localised force, in reaction to the arrest of several Bosnian Serb war criminals.
- February 14 - Violent clashes erupt between Filipino soldiers and Vietnamese boat people as the Philippines government attempts to forcibly repatriate hundreds of Vietnamese asylum seekers.
- February 15 - In south-west Wales, the Sea Empress oil tanker runs aground, spilling 73,000 tonnes of crude oil, killing many birds.
- February 15 - The U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece comes under mortar fire.
- February 15 - A Long March 3 at the Xichang launch site in China crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing 500.
- February 15 - Begum Khaleda Zia is reelected as prime minister of Bangladesh. The country's second democratic election is marred by low voter turnout owing to several boycotts and pre-election violence, which resulted in at least 13 deaths.
- February 15 - The UK government publishes the Scott Report.
- February 17 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Garry Kasparov beats "Deep Blue" in a second chess match.
- February 17 - In Irian Jaya, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 and associated tidal waves kills 102 people and causes widespread devastation.
- February 18 - An IRA briefcase bomb in a bus kills the bomber and injures 9 in the West End of London.
- February 19 - A wooden ferry capsizes as it enters the port of Cadiz in the Philippines, killing 54 people.
- February 19 - Close to one million people, including prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, participate in a silent march in Madrid against recent terrorist attacks committed by the ETA.
- February 21 - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia announces his medical recovery in the national press and assumes power again from his brother, Crown Prince Abdullah.
- February 24 - Cuban fighter jets shoot down two American aircraft belonging to the Cuban exile group, Brothers to the Rescue. Cuban officials asserted that they had invaded Cuban airspace.
- February 25 - Two suicide bombs in Israel kill 27 and injure 80. Hamas claims responsibility.
- February 28 - Canadian singer Alanis Morissette wins the top honor, Album of the Year award, at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards. She is the youngest person to ever win this award, a record she still holds.
- February 29 - In Lumberton, North Carolina, Daniel Green is convicted of the murder of James Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan.
- February 29 - A Boeing 737 flying for Faucett Airlines in route from Lima to Rodriguez Ballon airport crashed into a mountain near Arequipa. All 123 people on board died. See Faucett Flight 251.
- February 29 - At least 81 people drown when a boat capsizes 120 kilometres east of Kampala, in Uganda.
March
- March 1 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces refuse UNSCOM inspection teams access to 5 sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to 17 hours.
- March 2 - John Howard is elected Prime Minister of Australia in a landslide victory over the Labor Party's Paul Keating.
- March 2 - Ranabima Royal College, Sri Lanka, is established.
- March 3 - Jose Maria Aznar, leader of the Popular Party, is elected prime minister of Spain, replacing Felipe Gonzalez.
- March 3 to March 4 - Two more suicide bombs explode in Israel, killing 32. The Yahya Ayyash Units admit responsibility, and Palestinian president Yasser Arafat condemns the killings in a televised address. Israel warns of retaliations.
- March 6 - A boat carrying market traders capsizes outside Freetown harbour, in Sierra Leone, killing at least 86.
- March 6 - Chechen rebels attack the Russian government headquarters in Grozny. Seventy Russian soldiers and policemen and 130 Chechen fighters are killed.
- March 8 - The PRC begins surface to surface missile testing and military exercises off Taiwanese coastal areas. The United States government condemns the act as provocation, and the Taiwanese government warns of retaliation.
- March 9 - Jorge Sampaio is the new Portuguese president.
- March 13 - The Dunblane Massacre: Unemployed former shopkeeper Thomas Hamilton walks into the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland and opens fire, killing 16 students and 1 teacher before fatally shooting himself.
- March 14 - An international peace summit is held in Egypt, in response to escalating terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
- March 16 - Robert Mugabe is reelected president of Zimbabwe, although only 32 percent of the electorate actually voted.
- March 17 - Sri Lanka wins the Cricket World Cup by storming to a famous victory against the tournament favourite Australia.
- March 18 - 162 die in a fire at the Ozone Disco in Quezon City, Philippines.
- March 19 - 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 has been likely transmitted to people.
- March 23 - The Republic of China or Taiwan holds its first direct elections for president; Lee Teng-hui is re-elected.
- March 24 - Islamists clash with security forces in Kashmir, killing 11.
- March 25 - An 81-day long standoff between antigovernment Freemen in Jordan, Montana and federal officers begins.
- March 25 - The 68th Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California with Braveheart winning Best Picture.
- March 26 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for economic reform.
- March 28 - Fire breaks out at the Pasar Anyar shopping centre in Bogor, West Java. The first death toll estimate is 78 until rescuers notice that 68 of them are mannequins.
- March 28 - Three British soldiers are found guilty of the manslaughter of Danish tour guide Louise Jensen in Cyprus. Allan Ford, Justin Fowler and Geoffrey Pernell receive life sentences for their crime, which was committed in September 1994.
- March 28 - A 5.7 magnitude earthquake kills 62 and injures 110 people, and destroys 70 percent of the town of Pujili in Ecuador.
April
- April 1 - The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created.
- April 1 - An overcrowded ferry sinks off the coast of Irois, Haiti killing more than 200 people.
- April 2 - U.S. Mafioso John Gotti is found guilty of murdering Paul Castellano.
- April 3 - A Boeing 737 military jet crashes into a mountain north of Dubrovnik, in Croatia. All 35 people on board died, including United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. See 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash.
- April 3 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.
- April 3 - Massacres of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi take place, with more than 450 killed in a few days.
- April 6 - Fighting breaks out in Monrovia in Liberia between various rebel factions struggling for power in the country's interrupted civil war. Several foreign nationals leave the nation.
- April 6 - Major League Soccer kicks off in front of an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed Spartan Stadium to witness the historic first game. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scored the league's first goal in a 1-0 victory over D. C. United.
- April 6 - Turkish authorities begin Operation Hawk, an army offensive against rebels from the Kurdish Worker's Party in southeastern Turkey.
- April 11 - The Israeli government launches Operation Grapes of Wrath, consisting of massive attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for prior terrorist attacks, and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.
- April 12 - Jessica Dubroff, aged 7, is killed in a crash near Cheyenne, Wyoming while attempting to set a record as the youngest person to pilot an airplane across the United States.
- April 16 - The NBA's 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls, with Michael Jordan's lead, go on to set a new NBA record for the most wins in a season, achieving their 70th win.
- April 18 - Qana Massacre: Over 100 Lebanese civilians are killed after Israel shells the UN compound in Qana.
- April 18 - In reaction to the Qana Massacre, an Islamist group in Egypt open fire on a hotel, killing 18 Greek tourists and injuring 17 others.
- April 21 - A general election in Italy proclaims a new government headed by Romano Prodi and his Olive Tree coalition, replacing Silvio Berlusconi.
- April 24 - At the urging of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation drops its clause calling for the removal of Israel. The Israeli government responds by dropping a similar clause concerning the existence of Palestine.
- April 26 - The Rent opens.
- April 28 - Port Arthur massacre: Martin Bryant kills 35 people at the Port Arthur, Tasmania tourist site, Australia.
- April 28 - A bomb explodes in Bhaiperu, Pakistan, killing more than sixty people.
May
- Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.
- May 4 - A Sudanese Federal Airlines jet crashed on a domestic flight in a severe dust storm while making an emergency landing 325 kilometres northeast of Khartoum, killing all 53 passengers and crew.
- May 8 - dedication of the Keck II telescope
- May 9 - South Africa's National Party pulls out of the two year-old coalition government, and the African National Congress assumes full political control.
- May 9 - Incumbent president of Uganda Yoweri Museveni wins a landslide victory in the country's first first direct presidential elections, securing 75% of the vote.
- May 10 - 1996 Everest Disaster: A sudden storm engulfs Mount Everest 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.
- May 10 - The Australian government introduces a nationwide ban on the private possession of both automatic and semi-automatic rifles, in response to the Port Arthur massacre.
- May 10 - Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong, facing forced repatriation due to their classification as economic migrants rather than refugees, stage a protest at the Whitehead Detention Centre.
- May 11 - After takeoff from Miami, Florida, 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 kill 600.
- May 15 - Nine hostages held by the Free Papua Organization in Irian Jaya are rescued after an operation by the Indonesian military. Two other hostages are later found dead.
- May 17 to May 28 - Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is elected the new prime minister of India, replacing P. V. Narasimha Rao of the Indian National Congress. However, the party does not receive an overall majority and Vajpayee resigns thirteen days later rather than face a no confidence vote, and is replaced by the United Front, led Deve Gowda.
- May 18 - The X Prize Foundation launches the US$10 million Ansari X Prize, which would go on to be won in 2004, by Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne.
- May 19 - President of the Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadzic resigns from public office after being indicted for war crimes.
- May 20 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules (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 21 - The MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters in Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000 in one of Africa's worst maritime disasters.
- May 21 - The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas are executed.
- May 23 - Swede Göran Kropp reaches the Mount Everest summit alone without oxygen, after having bicycled there from Sweden.
- May 23 - Members of the Armed Islamic Group in Algeria kill seven French Trappist monks, after talks with French government concerning the imprisonment of several GIA sympathisers break down.
- 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 28 - Albania's general election of May 26 is declared unfair by international monitors, and the ruling Democratic Party under President Sali Berisha is charged by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe with rigging the elections. Several hundred protestors gather in Tirana to demonstrate against the election result.
- May 30 - The Likud Party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election.
- May 30 - The Hoover Institution released an optimistic report that global warming would probably reduce mortality in the United States and provide Americans with valuable benefits.[1]
- May 31 - FIFA decides to give the FIFA World Cup 2002, the first World Cup in Asia, to Japan and South Korea, becoming the first World Cup with co-host countries in the history of the event.
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.
- June 1 to June 3 - The Czech Republic's first general election ends inconclusively. Prime Minister Václav Klaus and his incumbent Civic Democratic Party emerge as the winners, but are unable to form a majority government. President Václav Havel refuses to invite Klaus to form a coalition.
- June 4 - The space rocket Ariane 5 explodes 40 seconds after takeoff in French Guiana. The project cost European governments 7.5 billion US dollars over 11 years.
- June 6 - Leighton W. Smith, Jr. resigns as NATO commander in the face of increasing criticism.
- June 7 - An IRA gang murders Detective Garda Jerry McCabe during a botched armed robbery in Adare, County Limerick.
- June 8 - Steffi Graf defeats Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the longest ever women's final at the French Open to win her 19th Grand Slam title.
- June 10 - Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin.
- June 10 - The Colorado Avalanche win their first Stanley Cup in their first season based out of Denver, Colorado, defeating the Florida Panthers 4 games to none. Avalanche captain Joe Sakic wins the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
- June 11 - An explosion in a Sao Paulo suburban shopping centre kills 44 and injures more than 100.
- June 11 - A peace convoy carrying Chechen separatist leaders and international diplomats is targeted by a series of remotely controlled land mines, killing eight.
- 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 Montana Freemen and FBI agents ends with their surrender in Montana.
- June 15 - In Manchester, UK, a massive IRA bomb injures over 200 people and devastates a large part of the city centre.
- June 16 - The Chicago Bulls win their 4th NBA Championship by defeating the Seattle Supersonics in the best-of-7 series 4 games to 2.
- June 19 - Boris Yeltsin emerges as winner in Russia's first round of presidential elections.
- June 20 - Thousands of Megawati Sukarnoputri supporters clash with police in Jakarta.
- June 23 - The Nintendo 64 video game system is released in Japan.
- June 23 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu is given an official farewell at his retirement service in St George's Cathedral.
- June 23 - Andreas Papandreou, former Prime minister of Greece and founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, dies in Athens at the age of 77.
- June 25 - The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen.
- June 26 - Journalist Veronica Guerin is shot and killed in her car just outside Dublin.
- June 28 - A new government is formed in Turkey, with Necmettin Erbakan of Refah Partisi becoming prime minister of the coalition government, and deputy and foreign minister Tansu Ciller of the True Path Party succeeding him after two years.
- June 29 - The Prince's Trust concert is held in Hyde Park, London, and is attended by 150,000 people. The Who headlines the event in their first performance since 1989.
- June 29 - An explosion in a firecrackers factory in Sichuan Province, China kills at least 36 people and injures another 52.
- June 30 - Costas Simitis is elected President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.
- June 30 - Germany beats the Czech Republic to win Euro 96.
- June 30 - Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic reliquishes power to his deputy, Biljana Plavsic.
July
- Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. Inspector Scott Ritter attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport, but is blocked by Iraqi officials.
- The Prague Manifesto declares the principles of the Esperanto movement.
- Confrontations occur in Northern Ireland between police and Orange Order protestors at Drumcree.
- July 1 - The Northern Territory in Australia legalises voluntary euthanasia.
- July 3 - Boris Yeltsin is reelected as President of Russia after the second round of elections.
- July 5 - Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born at the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, Scotland.
- July 8 - Martina Hingis becomes the youngest person in history (age 15 years and 282 days) to win at Wimbledon in the Ladies' Doubles event.
- July 11 - Arrest warrants are issued for Bosnian Serb war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic by the Russell Tribunal in The Hague.
- July 13 - A Republican Sinn Fein bomb explodes outside of a hotel in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, disrupting a wedding reception and injuring 17 people.
- July 16 - An outbreak of E. coli food poisoning in Japan reaches 6,000 fatalities after a group of schoolchildren who have eaten contaminated lunches die.
- July 17 - Paris and Rome-bound TWA Flight 800 (Boeing 747) explodes off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board.
- July 18 - Howard Hughes is sentenced to life imprisonment at Chester Crown Court for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Sophie Hook at Llandudno 12 months previously. The trial judge recommends that Hughes, 31, should never be released.
- July 19 - An F3 tornado 5.5 miles away from the Westminster, Maryland city center injured 3 people and caused $5 million in damages. [2]
- July 19 - The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is opened by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
- July 19 - Radovan Karadzic steps down as president of the Serb enclave in Bosnia.
- July 21 - Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec, in one of Canada's most costly natural disasters.
- July 24 - The Dehiwala train bombing kills 56 commuters outside Colombo.
- July 25 - The Tutsi-led Burundian army performs a coup and reinstalls previous president Pierre Buyoya, ousting current president Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.
- July 27 - The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics kills 1 and injures 111.
- July 29 - The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court.
August
The electron microscope revealed chain structures in meteorite fragment ALH84001
- August 1 - Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines.
- August 1 - A pro-democracy demonstration supporting Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia is broken up by riot police.
- August 1 - Michael Johnson wins the 200m finals of 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in a world-record time of 19.32 seconds.
- August 4 - The 1996 Summer Olympics conclude.
- August 6 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
- August 6 - The Australian census is conducted.
- August 7 - Heavy rains kill more than 80 campers near Huesca, Spain.
- August 9 - Boris Yeltsin is sworn in at the Kremlin for a second term as President of Russia.
- August 11 - The British rock band Oasis plays the biggest free-standing concert in UK history at Knebworth, Hertfordshire.
- August 13 - Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicates there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons.
- August 14 - A rocket ignited during a fireworks display in Arequipa, Peru knocks down a high-tension power cable into a dense crowd, electrocuting 35 people.
- August 15 - Bob Dole is nominated for President of the United States, and Jack Kemp for Vice President, at the Republican National Convention in San Diego, California.
- August 20 - A thousands-large protest in Seoul, calling for reunification with North Korea, is broken up by riot police.
- August 23 - Osama bin Laden writes "The Declaration of Jihad on the Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Sacred Places," a call for the removal of American forces from Saudi Arabia.
- August 26 - Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law.
- August 28 - Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the High Court of Justice in London. Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled Diana, Princess of Wales.
- August 29 - U.S. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are renominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
- August 29 - A Russian Tupolev 143 jetliner crashes into a mountain as it approaches the airport at Spitsbergen, in Norway, killing all 141 people on board.
- August 31 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern No-Fly Zone and capture Arbil.
- August 31 - The Big 12 Conference is inaugurated with a football game between Kansas State University and Texas Tech University in Manhattan, Kansas.
September
October
- October 2 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
- October 2 - The former prime minister of Bulgaria, Andrei Lukanov, is assassinated.
- October 2 - An Aeroperu Boeing 757 crashes into the Pacific Ocean when the instruments failed just after takeoff from Lima airport, killing all 70 on board.
- October 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 40.62 to close at 6,010.00, the Dow's first close above 6,000.
- October 22 - A fire at La Planta prison in southwest Caracas, Venezuela kills 30 prisoners.
- October 23 - The O.J. Simpson civil trial begins in Santa Monica, California.
- October 25 - The Toronto International Film Show begins, feturing such films as Twelfth Night.
- October 26 - The New York Yankees defeat the Atlanta Braves to win their 23rd World Series title and first in 18 years.
- October 30 - Fighting erupts when Banyamulenga Tutsis of Laurent Kabila in Zaire seize Uvira and proceed to kill Hutu refugees.
- October 31 - A Brazilian TAM Fokker airliner crashes into a densely populated area of Sao Paulo, killing 103.
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 - A devastating category 4 Cyclone strikes Andhra Pradesh, India. The storm surge sweeps fishing villages out to sea, over 2,000 people die. 95 percent of the crops are completely destroyed.
- November 7 - NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
- November 8 - All 141 people on board a Nigerian-owned Boeing 727 died when the aircraft crashes into the Atlantic Ocean while approaching Lagos airport.
- November 12 - Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 has a mid-air collision with Kazakhstan Airlines Il-76, resulting in the loss of 349 lives.
- November 15 - State Street in Chicago is re-opened to pedestrian traffic.
- November 16 - Mother Teresa receives honorary U.S. citizenship.
- November 17 - A bomb explosion in Kaspiysk, Russia kills 32 people.
- November 18 - World-renowned bird expert Tony Silva is sentenced to 7 years in prison without parole for leading an illegal parrot smuggling ring.
- November 18 - Martyn Bryant is sentenced to life imprisonment, 2 weeks after confessing to murdering 35 people in Tasmania earlier this year.
- November 19 - STS-80: was the longest mission of the Space Shuttle program, flew by Space Shuttle Columbia.
- November 21 - A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33.
- November 21 - Demonstrations in Zagreb for survival of Radio 101.
- November 23 - The Republic of Angola officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Angola.
December
- December 2 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the 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 - The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement takes 72 hostages in the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru.
- December 20 - Steve Jobs's company NeXT is bought by Apple Computer, the company co-founded by Jobs.
- December 26 - Start of the largest strike in South Korean history.
- December 26 - Six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey is murdered in the basement of her parents' home in Boulder, Colorado.
- December 27 - Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram air base, which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul.
- December 29 - Guatemala and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord that ends a 36-year 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.
- December 31 - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway is merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, making it one of the largest railroad mergers in U.S. history.
Undated
- General Motors EV1 launched. The EV1 is the first electric car to go into mass production.
Fictional
The following are references to year 1996 in fiction:
Environmental
Births
- January 1 - Mary Gibbs, American actress
- January 5 - Max Baldry, English/Russian actor
- January 5 - Emma Bolger, Irish actress
- January 29 - Megan Jossa, English actress
- February 7 - Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer
- February 9 - Jimmy Bennett, American actor
- February 17 - Sasha Pieterse, South African actress
- February 19 - Allen Alvarado, American Actor
- February 28 - Bobbe' J. Thompson, American actor
- March 6 - Savanah Stehlin, American actress
- March 18 - Madeline Carroll, American actress
- April 14 - Abigail Breslin, American actress
- April 17 - Dee Dee Davis, American actress
- April 25 - Allisyn Ashley Arm, American actress
- July 5 - Dolly the Sheep, first cloned mammal (d. 2003)
- July 23 - Rachel G. Fox, American actress
- August 7 - Tessa Allen, American actress
- August 17 - Ella Cruz, Filipina actress
- August 21 - Jamia Simone Nash, American actress
- September 8 - Krystal Reyes, Filipina actress
- September 27 - Princess Iman bint Al Abdullah II
- October 3 - Adair Tishler, American actress
- October 8 - Kylee Russell, American actress
- October 28 - Jasmine Jessica Anthony, American actress
- October 28 - Naelee Rae, American actress
- November 3 - Aria Wallace, American actress
- November 22 - Madison Davenport, American actress and singer
- November 27 - Alexandra Astin, American actress
- December 22 - Makisig Morales, Fillipino actor
Deaths
January-June
- January 2 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1915)
- January 5 - Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian terrorist (b. 1966)
- January 8 - François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
- January 9 - Fearless Nadia, Indian actress and stuntwoman (b. 1908)
- January 9 - Sultan Rahi, Pakistani film actor (b. 1938)
- January 15 - Les Baxter, American musician and composer (b. 1922)
- January 15 - Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
- January 17 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936)
- January 18 - Leonor Fini, Argentine artist (b. 1908)
- January 18 - Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Indian (Telugu) film actor (b. 1923)
- January 20 - Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
- January 25 - Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (b. 1960)
- January 26 - Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1921)
- January 28 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
- January 28 - Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)
- January 31 - Gustave Solomon, American mathematician and engineer (b. 1930)
- February 2 - Gene Kelly, American actor (b. 1912)
- February 3 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (b. 1926)
- February 6 - Guy Madison, American actor (b. 1922)
- February 7 - Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (b. 1925)
- February 11 - Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)
- February 11 - Cyril Poole, English cricketer (b. 1921)
- February 11 - Phil Regan, American actor (b. 1906)
- February 11 - Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (b. 1930)
- February 12 - Bob Shaw, Irish writer (b. 1931)
- February 14 - Bob Paisley, English football manager (b. 1919)
- February 15 - McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
- February 16 - Edmund G. Brown, Governor of California (b. 1905)
- February 16 - Brownie McGhee, American musician (b. 1915)
- February 16 - Roger Bowen, American actor (b. 1932)
- February 20 - T?ru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
- February 21 - Morton Gould, American musician and composer (b. 1913)
- February 25 - Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian actor (murdered) (b. 1940)
- February 26 - Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Polish composer (b. 1919)
- March 3 - Marguerite Duras, French author and director (b. 1914)
- March 4 - Minnie Pearl, American comedian (b. 1912)
- March 9 - George Burns, American actor and singer (b. 1896)
- March 13 - Krzysztof Kie?lowski, Polish film director (b. 1941)
- March 16 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (b. 1954)
- March 17 - René Clément, French film director (b. 1913)
- March 18 - Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- March 19 - Virginia Henderson, American nurse theorist (b. 1897)
- March 19 - Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician (b. 1933)
- March 25 - John Snagge, British radio personality (b. 1904)
- March 26 - David Packard, American engineer (b. 1912)
- March 29 - Frank Daniel, Czech-born writer, director, producer, teacher (b. 1926)
- March 31 - Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American musician (The Gun Club and The Cramps) (b. 1958)
- April 1 - Florence Buchsbaum, theater director and musician (b. 1926)
- April 3
- April 4
- April 6 - Greer Garson, English actress (b. 1904)
- April 8 - George W. Jenkins, American businessman (b. 1907)
- April 20 - Christopher Robin Milne, English author and bookseller (b. 1920)
- April 21 - Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen President (b. 1944)
- April 22 - Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer (b. 1927)
- April 25 - Saul Bass, American graphic designer (b. 1920)
- April 26 - Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
- May 5 - Salli Terri, Canadian mezzo-soprano (b. 1922)
- May 11 - Nnamdi Azikiwe, President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
- May 11 - Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer (b. 1961)
- May 15 - Charles B. Fulton, American judge (b. 1910)
- May 17 - Kevin Gilbert, American musician, composer, and record producer (b. 1966)
- May 17 - Scott Brayton, American race car driver (b. 1959)
- May 20 - Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
- May 21 - Paul Delph, American musician and producer (b. 1957)
- May 22 - Seymour H. Knox III, hockey team owner (b. 1926)
- May 24 - Jacob Druckman, American composer (b. 1928)
- May 24 - Joseph Mitchell, American writer (b. 1908)
- May 25 - Brad Nowell, American musician (b. 1968)
- May 31 - Timothy Leary, American writer, psychologist, and advocate of psychedelic drug research and use (b. 1920)
- June 2 - Ray Combs, American game show host, and comedian (suicide) (b. 1956)
- June 2 - Leon Garfield, English children's author (b. 1921)
- June 6 - George Davis Snell, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- June 10 - Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky, Austrian painter (b. 1906)
- June 15 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
- June 17 - Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (b. 1922)
- June 19 - G. David Schine, American businessman (b. 1927)
- June 23 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
- June 26 - Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (murdered) (b. 1958)
- June 27 - Albert R. Broccoli, film producer (b. 1909)
July-December
- July 1 - William T. Cahill, America politician (b. 1912)
- July 3 - Raaj Kumar, Indian film actor (b. 1926)
- July 5 - Erik Wickberg, Salvation Army general (b. 1904)
- July 12 - Jonathan Melvoin, musician (b. 1961)
- July 14 - Jeff Krosnoff, American race car driver (b. 1964)
- July 15 - Dana Hill, American actress (b. 1964)
- July 20 - Frantisek Planicka, Czech footballer (b. 1904)
- July 21 - Herb Edelman, American Actor (b. 1933)
- July 27 - Jane Drew, English architect (b. 1911)
- July 28 - Roger Tory Peterson, American naturalist and artist (b.
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