Well, this year seems pretty….well, not good. But we survived it!
January
January 1 – 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 to date.
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 assassinated by an Israeli Shabak-planted, bomb-laden cell phone.
January 7 – One of the worst blizzards in American history hits the eastern states, killing more than 150 people. Philadelphia receives a record 30.7 inches (78 cm) of snowfall, New York City’s public schools close for the first time in 18 years and the federal government in Washington, D.C. is closed for days.
January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital Kinshasa, killing 300.
January 9–January 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 17 – Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old American child victim and namesake for the AMBER Alert system, is murdered in Arlington, Texas
January 19
The 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.
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.
January 21 – France undertakes its last nuclear weapon test.
January 22 – Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, resigns due to health problems; a new government forms under Costas Simitis.
January 24 – Polish Premier Józef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow. He is replaced by Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz.
January 26 – Whitewater scandal: U.S. First Lady Hillary 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 29
President Jacques Chirac announces a “definitive end” to French nuclear testing.
Fire destroys La Fenice, Venice‘s opera house.
January 30 – Irish National Liberation Army leader Gino Gallagher is killed in an internal feud.
January 30–February 5 – Sarah Balabagan is caned in the United Arab Emirates.
January 31
Colombo Central Bank bombing: an explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
An explosion in Shaoyang, China kills 122 and injures over 400 when 10 short tons (9.1 t) of dynamite in an illegal explosives warehouse underneath an apartment building detonate.
February
February 4 – The 6.6 Mw earthquake near Lijiang in southwest China kills up to 322 people, injures 17,000, and leaves three-hundred thousand homeless.
February 6 – Birgenair Flight 301, on an unauthorised charter flight from the Caribbean to Germany, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
February 7 – René Préval succeeds Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president of Haiti, in the first peaceful handover of power since the nation achieved independence.
February 8
An IRA ceasefire ends with the Docklands bombing in London’s Canary Wharf District, killing 2 and causing over £85 million worth of damage.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was signed into US law by President Bill Clinton, deregulating access to the telecommunications and broadcasting market, including the dissemination of media by internet. The bill was the first to be signed in cyberspace.
February 9 – The element copernicium is created by fusing a 208Pb nucleus with a 70Zn nucleus, forming 278Cn. Given the placeholder name “ununbium”, the element is not named until 2010.
February 10
Chess computer “Deep Blue” defeats world chess champion Garry Kasparov for the first time.
Bosnian Serbs break off contact with the Bosnian government and with representatives of Ifor, the NATO localised force, in reaction to the arrest of several Bosnian Serb war criminals.
February 13 – The Nepalese Civil War is initiated in the Kingdom of Nepal by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre) and continues until 2006.
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 southwest Wales, the oil tanker Sea Empress runs aground, spilling 73,000 tonnes (72,000 long tons; 80,000 short tons) of crude oil, killing many birds.
The U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, comes under mortar fire.
Begum Khaleda Zia is reelected as prime minister of Bangladesh. The country’s second democratic election is marred by low voter turnout, due to several boycotts and pre-election violence, which result in at least 13 deaths.
The UK government publishes the Scott Report.
February 28 – Prince Charles and Lady Diana officially divorce
Feb.15: Long March rocket, with Intelsat 708 satellite, veers upon launch (images from Cox Commission report for U.S. Congress).
February 17
In Philadelphia, Garry Kasparov beats “Deep Blue” in a second chess match.
The 8.2 Mw Biak earthquake shakes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving one-hundred sixty-six people dead or missing and 423 injured.
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 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 2 American aircraft belonging to the Cuban exile group, Brothers to the Rescue. Cuban officials assert that they invaded Cuban airspace.
February 25 – Two suicide bombs in Israel kill 25 and injure 80; Hamas claims responsibility.
February 27 – Pokémon Red and Blue are released in Japan by Nintendo as Pocket Monsters: Red and Green, the first role-playing video game in the Pokémon series, developed by Game Freak.
February 28 – Canadian singer Alanis Morissette wins the top honor, Album of the Year award, at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards. At age 21, she is the youngest person to ever win this award, a record she will hold until 2010, when Taylor Swift wins.
February 29
In Lumberton, North Carolina, Daniel Green is convicted of the murder of James Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan.
Faucett Flight 251 en route from Lima to Rodriguez Ballon airport crashes into a mountain near Arequipa; all 123 people on board are killed.
At least 81 people drown when a boat capsizes 120 kilometres east of Kampala, Uganda.
The Bosnian government declares the end of the Siege of Sarajevo.
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
Ranabima Royal College is established in Sri Lanka.
The Australian federal election, 1996 is held; Labor’s Paul Keating loses to Liberal leader John Howard.
March 3 – José María Aznar, leader of the Popular Party, is elected prime minister of Spain, replacing Felipe González.
March 3–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 retaliation.
March 6
Mesut Yılmaz, of ANAP forms the new government of Turkey (53rd government).
A boat carrying market traders capsizes outside Freetown harbour, in Sierra Leone, killing at least 86.
Chechen rebels attack the Russian government headquarters in Grozny; 70 Russian soldiers and policemen and 130 Chechen fighters are killed.
March 8 – The People’s Republic of China 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 11 – John Howard is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Australia.
March 13 – Dunblane massacre: Unemployed former shopkeeper Thomas Hamilton walks into the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland and opens fire, killing 16 infant school pupils and one 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 beating Australia in a disappointing final.
March 18 – The Ozone Disco Club fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 163.
March 20 – The British government announces that Bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been likely transmitted to people.
March 22 – Sweden‘s Finance Minister Göran Persson becomes his homeland’s new Prime Minister.
March 23 – The Republic of China (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.
The devastating Marcopper mining disaster on the island of Marinduque, Philippines takes place.
March 25
An 81-day-long standoff begins between antigovernment Freemen and federal officers in Jordan, Montana.
The 68th Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles 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.
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 the September 1994 rape/murder.
April
April 1 – The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created.
April 3
A Boeing 737 military jet crashes into a mountain north of Dubrovnik, Croatia. All 35 people on board die, including United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown (see 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash).
Suspected “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.
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, Liberia, between various rebel factions struggling for power in the country’s interrupted civil war. Several foreign nationals leave the nation.
Major League Soccer kicks off in front of an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed in Spartan Stadium, to witness the historic first game. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scores the league’s first goal in a 1–0 victory over D.C. United.
Turkish authorities begin Operation Hawk, an army offensive against rebels from the Kurdish Worker’s Party in southeastern Turkey.
April 9 – In a common statement, the European Union officially recognizes the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
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.
At Düsseldorf International Airport, smouldering polystyrene evolves into a major fire, killing 17 people inside the terminal building.
April 18
Qana Massacre: Over 100 Lebanese civilians are killed after Israel shells the United Nations compound in Qana.
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 center-left government headed by Romano Prodi, replacing Silvio Berlusconi.
April 24 – At the urging of Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization 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 – A regional security treaty is signed by the “Shanghai Five“.
April 28
Port Arthur massacre: Martin Bryant kills 35 people at the Port Arthur, Tasmania tourist site, Australia.
A bomb explodes in Bhaiperu, Pakistan, killing more than 60 people.
May
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 crashes 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 – The Keck II telescope is dedicated in Hawaii.
May 9
South Africa’s National Party pulls out of the 2-year-old coalition government, and the African National Congress assumes full political control.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni wins a landslide victory in the country’s 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.
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.
Vietnamese 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, 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; 2 other hostages are later found dead.
May 17–28 – 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 13 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 $10 million Ansari X Prize, which is won in 2004, by Burt Rutan‘s SpaceShipOne.
May 20 – Gay rights – Romer v. Evans: The Supreme Court of the United States rules against a law that prevents 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.
The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas are executed.
The famous 1913 Liberty Head nickel owned by Louis E. Eliasberg becomes the first coin to top $1,000,000 in a U.S. auction.
May 23
Swede Göran Kropp reaches the Mount Everest summit alone without oxygen, after having bicycled there from Sweden.
Members of the Armed Islamic Group in Algeria kill 7 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 Organization for Security and Co-operation 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.
The Hoover Institution releases an optimistic report that global warming will 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
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–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 costs 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 kills Detective Garda Jerry McCabe during a botched armed robbery in Adare, County Limerick.
June 8
The 10th European Football Championship (UEFA Euro 96) begins in England.
Steffi Graf defeats Arantxa Sánchez 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 11
An explosion in a São Paulo suburban shopping centre kills 44 and injures more than 100.
A peace convoy carrying Chechen separatist leaders and international diplomats is targeted by a series of remotely controlled land mines; 8 are killed.
June 12 – In Philadelphia, 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 19 – Boris Yeltsin emerges as the winner in Russia’s first round of presidential elections.
June 20 – Thousands of Megawati Sukarnoputri supporters clash with police in Jakarta, Indonesia.
June 23
The Nintendo 64 video game system is released in Japan.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is given an official farewell at his retirement service.
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 Çiller of the True Path Party succeeding him after 2 years.
The Constitution of Ukraine is signed into law.
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.
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 Pa