1996

From Freepedia

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

Years:
1993 1994 1995 - 1996(MCMXCVI) - 1997 1998 1999

Decades:
1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s

Centuries:
19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1996 by topic:
Arts	Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music - Television
Science and technology	Aviation - Rail transport - Radio - Science
Countries	Australia - Canada - Ireland - South Africa - Sport
Other	Births - Deaths - State leaders - Religious leaders

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 26 - US millionaire John E. DuPont shoots wrestler David Schultz
January 27 - Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara 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.
- Group of Greeks hoist a Greek flag to Kardac Rocks, initiating the Imia-Kardak crisis
Duke Nukem 3D Shareware released to public
January 30 - Leader of the Irish National Liberation Army Gino Gallagher is killed, in an internal feud, while in line for his unemployment benefit.
January 30 - February 5 - Sarah Balabagan 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.
Dragonball Z ends in Japan.

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

Image:Ac.johnhoward.jpg

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 2 - John Howard is elected Prime Minister of Australia in a landslide election victory, over the Labor Party's Paul Keating.
March 13 - The Dunblane Massacre.
March 17 - Sri Lanka win the Cricket World Cup by storming to a famous victory against the tournament favourites Australia.
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.
- 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'.
March 28 - Fire breaks out at the Pasar Anyar shopping centre in Bogor, West Java. First estimated death toll is 78 until rescuers notice that 68 of them are mannequins
March 30 - The Kennett government is re-elected in Victoria with a 30 seat majority.

April

April 2 - US Mafioso John Gotti is found guilty of murder of Paul Castellano
April 3 - Plane carrying US commerce secretary Ron Brown crashes near Dubrovnik, Croatia
April 3
- Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.
- The first EuroHowl is held in Aberystwyth, Wales.
- A Lunar eclipse occurred.
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 10 - 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 four other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.
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 27 - Doctor Who makes its return to British television for the first time since 1989. Paul McGann starred in the US made movie which pitted the Doctor against Eric Roberts' Master.
May 28 - Wife of US comedian Phil Hartman kills him and commits suicide afterwards
May 31 - id Software releases the first person shooter computer game Quake.
May-June - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.
May - The Onion launches its satirical news publication on the Internet.

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.
June 1 - Tennessee celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
June 10 - Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin
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 in England.
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.
June 30 - Germany beat the Czech Republic 2-1 with a Golden goal to win Euro 96.

July

Image:Dolly the sheep.jpg

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 1 - The Northern Territory in Australia legalises voluntary euthanasia.
July 5 - Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born. It will prematurely die in February 2003.
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 purportedly receives 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 R. 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 1 - Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines
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 6 - The Ramones play their last show ever at Lollapalooza.
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 7 - Rapper Tupac Shakur shot in Las Vegas, Nevada following Mike Tyson bout. He would succumb 6 nights later on September 13.
September 11 - Aubrey Berryhill and Ashton Cayado won the Nobel prize.
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 Ceauşescu dies from cirrhosis of the liver in a Viennese hospital. He was the younger son of Nicolae Ceauşescu.
September 27 - In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

October

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 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 40.62 to close at 6,010.00 -- The Dow's first close above 6,000.
October 23 - Opening statements in the O.J. Simpson civil trial begin.
October 30 - Fighting erupts when Banyamulenga Tutsis of Laurent Kabila in Zaire seize Uvira and proceed to kill Hutu refugees

November

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.
November 19 - U.S President Bill Clinton makes a visit to Australia in which he addresses both Houses of Parliament
November 23 - The Republic of Angola officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Angola.
November 25 - The U.S. stock markets, especially the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gains at an incredibly fast pace following the 1996 Presidential elections. It gains 10 days in a row during the month (a feat that hasn't been touched as of June 2005), and burned through five century marks:
- 6,100 on November 6
- 6,200 the next day
- 6,300 on November 14
- 6,400 on November 20
- 6,500 today