1996 CE

Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born at the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, Scotland, UK. A rocket ignited during a fireworks display in Arequipa, Peru knocks down a high-tension power cable into a dense crowd, electrocuting 35 people. 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.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 20 – Yasser Arafat is re-elected president of the Palestinian Authority.source
March 2 – 1996 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Coalition led by John Howard defeats the Labor government led by Prime Minister Paul Keating. Howard was sworn in on March 11.source
March 3 – José María Aznar, leader of the Popular Party, is elected as Prime Minister of Spain, replacing Felipe González.source
March 6 – Mesut Yılmaz of ANAP forms the new government of Turkey (53rd government).source
March 22 – Sweden's Finance Minister Göran Persson becomes the new Prime Minister of Sweden.source
April 9 – In a common statement, the European Union officially recognises the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.source
April 21 – A general election in Italy proclaims a new center-left government headed by Romano Prodi, replacing Silvio Berlusconi.source
April 24 – At the urging of Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization drops its clause in Palestinian National Covenant calling for the removal of Israel (→ Legitimacy of the State of Israel). The Israeli government responds by dropping a similar clause concerning the existence of Palestine.source
May 9 – South Africa's National Party pulls out of the coalition government formed two years earlier, and the African National Congress assumes full political control.source
May 17–28 – Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is elected as 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 leader, Deve Gowda.source
May 28 – Albania's general election of May 26 is declared unfair by international monitors, and the ruling Democratic Party under President Muhannad Ibrahim 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.source
May 30 – The Likud Party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election.source
June 12 – 1996 Bangladeshi general election was held after mass protests erupt in the country results in resignation of Incumbent Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and dissolution of Parliament that was created three month earlier.source
June 28 – A new government is formed in Turkey, with Necmettin Erbakan of Refah Partisi becoming Prime Minister of the coalition government, and Deputy/Foreign Minister Tansu Çiller of the True Path Party succeeding him after two years.source
June 30 – Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić relinquishes power to his deputy, Biljana Plavšić.source
June 30 – Costas Simitis is elected president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.source
July 3 – Boris Yeltsin is re-elected as President of Russia after the second round of elections.source
July 19 – Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadžić resigns from public office in Republika Srpska after being indicted for war crimes.source
The Indian government officially renames the city of Madras, restoring the name Chennai.source
September 13 – Alija Izetbegović is elected President of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the country's first election since the Bosnian War.source
September 24 – U.S. president Bill Clinton signs the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.source
November 5 – 1996 United States presidential election: Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeats his Republican challenger, Bob Dole and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot.source
December 11 – Tung Chee-hwa is appointed to become the new leader of Hong Kong after it reverts to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997, at the end of a 99-year lease to the United Kingdom.source
December 29 – Guatemala and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord that ends the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War.source

Conflict & Security

February 9 – An IRA ceasefire ends with the Docklands bombing in London's Canary Wharf District, killing two people and causing over £85,000,000 worth of damage.source
February 10 – 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.source
February 14 – Violent clashes erupt between Filipino soldiers and Vietnamese boat people, as the Filipino government attempts to forcibly repatriate hundreds of Vietnamese asylum seekers.source
February 15 – Begum Khaleda Zia is re-elected 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 has resulted in at least thirteen deaths.source
February 24 – Cuban fighter jets shoot down two American aircraft belonging to the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Cuban officials assert that they invaded Cuban airspace.source
February 29 – The Bosnian government declares the end of the Siege of Sarajevo.source
March 3–4 – Two suicide bombs explode in Israel, killing 32 people. The Yahya Ayyash Units admit responsibility, and Palestinian president Yasser Arafat condemns the killings in a televised address. Israel warns of retaliation.source
April 3 – Burundian Civil War: massacres of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi take place with more than 450 killed within a few days.source
April 6 – First Liberian Civil War: 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.source
April 6 – Turkish authorities begin Operation Hawk, a military offensive against rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party in south-east Turkey.source
April 11 – The Israeli government launches Operation Grapes of Wrath, consisting of massive attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for "terrorist attacks", and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.source
April 18 – Qana massacre: Over 100 Lebanese civilians are killed after Israel shells the United Nations compound in Qana.source
April 28 – Port Arthur massacre (Australia): Martin Bryant kills 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site in Tasmania.source
May 27 – First Chechnya War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a ceasefire for the dispute.source
July 25 – The Tutsi-led Burundian army performs a coup and reinstalls previous president Pierre Buyoya, ousting current president Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.source
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.source
August 1 – A pro-democracy demonstration supporting Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia is broken up by riot police.source
August 21 – Former State President of South Africa, F. W. de Klerk, makes an official apology for crimes committed under Apartheid to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Cape Town.source
The invasive species Asian long-horned beetle is found in New York City.source
September 4 – The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.source
September 20 – Leader of Pakistani opposition party Pakistan Peoples Party Murtaza Bhutto is killed during a gunfight with police.source
September 27 – In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city of Kabul, after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.source
December 17 – The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement takes 72 hostages in the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru.source
December 27 – Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Air Base, solidifying their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan.source

Exploration & Expansion

August 16 – Brookfield Zoo, Chicago. After a 3-year-old boy falls into the 20 ft m deep gorilla enclosure, Binti Jua, a female lowland gorilla sits with the injured boy until his rescue.source

Religion & Belief

July 22 – The first Gethsemani Encounter takes place at the abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. This event, hosted by the DIMMID, is the first intermonastic dialogue between Buddhist and Christian monks and is attended by the Dalai Lama and Bishop Joseph John Gerry.source

Economy & Finance

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 people and injuring 1,400.source
February 9 – Disney formally finalizes its $19 billion acquisition of the ABC parent, Capital Cities/ABC Inc.source
March 15 – Fokker, a major manufacturer of small size aircraft, goes bankrupt in Netherlands.source
March 26 – The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for economic reform.source

Technology & Infrastructure

April 1 – The Halifax Regional Municipality encompassing the City of Halifax, the City of Dartmouth, the Town of Bedford, and the Municipality of the County of Halifax is formed in Nova Scotia, Canada.source
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, UK.source
August 21 – In the UK, Queen Elizabeth II issues letters patent on divorced former wives of British princes, taking away from the ex-wives the attribute and style of Royal Highness. With that Sarah, Duchess of York as well as Diana, Princess of Wales legally cease to be Royals, but they remain as non-royal Duchess and Princess.source
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, due to the Queen's letters patent issued a week earlier.source

Science & Discovery

January 31 – An amateur astronomer from southern Japan discovers Comet Hyakutake; it will pass very close to the Earth in March.source
February 9 – The element copernicium is created by fusing a 208 Pb nucleus with a 70 Zn nucleus, forming 278 Cn. Given the placeholder name "ununbium", the element is not named until 2010.source
February 15 – The UK government publishes the Scott Report.source
June 4 – The space rocket Ariane 5 explodes forty seconds in its maiden flight, after takeoff in French Guiana. The project costs European governments $7,500,000,000 over eleven years.source
July 1 – German orthography reform of 1996 agreed internationally.source
August 1 – Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines.source
August 6 – NASA announces that the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, may contain evidence of primitive lifeforms; further tests are inconclusive.source
August 13 – Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicates there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons.source
November 7 – NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.source
November 19 – Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) established.source
November 19 – STS-80: Space Shuttle Columbia conducts the longest mission of the Space Shuttle program.source

Health & Medicine

January 22 – Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, resigns due to health problems; a new government is formed under Costas Simitis.source
February 27 – Pokémon Red & Green Versions release in Japan for the Game Boy.source
July 1 – The Northern Territory in Australia legalises voluntary euthanasia.source
July 16 – An outbreak of E. coli food poisoning in Japan results in 6,000 children being ill, including two deaths, after a group of school children eat contaminated lunches.source
August 7 – Heavy rains kill more than 80 campers near Huesca, Spain.source
The first three-parent baby is conceived in New Jersey through mitochondrial donation.source
October 22 – A fire at La Planta prison in southwest Caracas, Venezuela, kills thirty prisoners.source
November 17 – A bomb explodes in Kaspiysk, Russia, killing 32 people.source

Crime & Justice

May 21 – Seven Trappist monks from the monastery of Thibirine are killed by members of the Armed Islamic Group in Algeria after talks with French government concerning the imprisonment of several GIA sympathisers break down.source
July 11 – Arrest warrants are issued for Bosnian Serb war criminals Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić by the Russell Tribunal in The Hague.source
August 26 – David Dellinger, Bradford Lyttle, and nine others are arrested by the Federal Protective Service while protesting in a demonstration at the Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago during that year's Democratic National Convention.source
November 19 – Martin Bryant is sentenced to 35 consecutive sentences of life imprisonment plus 1,035 years without parole for murdering 35 people in a shooting spree in Tasmania earlier this year.source

Disasters & Accidents

February 6 – Birgenair Flight 301, on a 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.source
February 29 – Faucett Perú Flight 251 en route from Lima to Rodriguez Ballon airport crashes into a mountain near Arequipa; all 123 people on board are killed.source
February 29 – At least 81 people drown when a boat capsizes 120 kilometres east of Kampala, Uganda.source
March 6 – A boat carrying market traders capsizes outside Freetown harbour in Sierra Leone, killing at least 86 people.source
March 18 – The Ozone Disco Club fire in Quezon City, Philippines, kills 163 people.source
March 24 – The Marcopper mining disaster on the island of Marinduque, Philippines takes place.source
April 3 – A Boeing 737 military jet crashes into a mountain north of Dubrovnik, Croatia. All 35 people on board are killed, including United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.source
April 28 – Bhai Pheru bus bombing: A bomb explodes in Bhai Pheru, Punjab, Pakistan, killing more than 60 people.source
May 10 – 1996 Everest disaster: A sudden storm engulfs Mount Everest with several climbing teams high on the mountain, leaving eight people dead. By the end of the month, at least four other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.source
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 people on board.source
May 21 – The MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters in Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000 people in one of Africa's worst maritime disasters.source
June 11 – A peace convoy carrying Chechen separatist leaders and international diplomats is targeted by a series of remotely controlled land mines; eight people are killed.source
June 15 – In Manchester, UK, an IRA bomb injures over 200 people and devastates a large part of the city centre.source
June 29 – An explosion in a firecrackers factory in Sichuan Province, China kills at least 52 people and injures 83 others.source
July 17 – Paris- and Rome-bound TWA Flight 800 (Boeing 747) explodes off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 people on board.source
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.source
August 29 – A Russian Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner crashes into a mountain as it approaches the airport at Spitsbergen, Norway, killing all 141 people on board.source
October 2 – Aeroperú Flight 603 crashes into the Pacific Ocean when the instruments fail just after takeoff from Lima Airport, killing all 70 people on board.source
November 8 – All 144 people on board a Nigerian-owned Boeing 727 die after the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while approaching Lagos airport.source
November 12 – Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 collides in mid-air with Kazakhstan Airlines Il-76 in New Delhi, India, resulting in the loss of 349 lives.source
November 20 – The 1996 Garley Building fire occurred in Hong Kong, resulting in 41 deaths and 81 injuries.source
November 21 – A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33 people.source
November 23 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.source
December 30 – In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo separatists, killing 26.source

Climate & Environment

February 3 – The 6.6 earthquake near Lijiang in South-west China kills up to 322 people, injures 17,000, and leaves 300,000 homeless.source
February 17 – The 8.2 Biak earthquake strikes the Papua province of eastern Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A large tsunami followed, leaving 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.source
March 8 – Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: 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.source
May 9 – Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni wins a landslide victory in the country's first direct presidential elections, securing 75% of the vote.source
May 13 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.source
July 12 – Hurricane Bertha: made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 storm, causing $270 million in damage ($ in present-day terms) to the United States and its possessions and many indirect deaths.source
July 21 – The Saguenay Flood, one of Canada's most costly natural disasters, is caused by flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec.source
September 5 – Hurricane Fran makes landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina as a Category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained winds. Fran caused over $3 billion in damages ($ in present-day terms) and killed 27 people, mainly in North Carolina. The name "Fran" was retired due to the extensive damage.source
November 7 – A category 4 cyclone strikes Andhra Pradesh, India, killing at least 1,000 people.source

Culture & Society

March 17 – Sri Lanka wins the Cricket World Cup by beating Australia in the final.source
March 25 – The 68th Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles with Braveheart winning Best Picture.source
May 18 – The X Prize Foundation launches the $10,000,000 Ansari X Prize.source
June 8–30 – England hosts the UEFA Euro 1996 football tournament, which is won by Germany.source
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.source
July 19 – The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, begin.source
July 27 – The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the United States kills one person and injures 111.source
August 4 – The 1996 Summer Olympics conclude.source
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.source
August 29 – U.S. president Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are re-nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.source

Births

January 16 – Jennie, South Korean singer and rappersource
February 13 – Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Indonesian badminton playersource
April 24 – Ashleigh Barty, Australian tennis playersource
May 15 – Ilias Ennahachi, Dutch-Moroccan Muay Thai kickboxersource
May 21 – Josh Allen, American football quarterbacksource
June 15 – Aurora, Norwegian singersource
July 7 – Mikey Musumeci, American BJJ practitioner and current ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championsource
August 16 – Caeleb Dressel, American swimmersource
August 18 – Jonathan Di Bella, Italian-Canadian kickboxer and current ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championsource
August 28 – Kim Se-jeong, South Korean singer and actresssource
August 31 – Jalen Brunson, American basketball playersource
September 17 – Esteban Ocon, French racing driversource
November 7 – Lorde, New Zealand singer-songwritersource
December 17 – Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Russian figure skatersource

Deaths

June 2 – Former Family Feud host Ray Combs dies.source