Major Events
- Jul 3 UK House of Commons announces that the Stone of Scone, aka the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish (and subsequently English and British monarchs), will be returned to Scotland after 700 years in Westminster Abbey
- Aug 23 Osama bin Laden issues message entitled "A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places"
- Aug 26 US President Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in welfare policy
- More 1996 Events
1996 in Film & TV
- Feb 23 "Trainspotting" directed by Danny Boyle based on the book by Irvine Welsh, starring Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller opens in cinemas in the UK and Ireland
- Feb 27 First ever appearance of Pokémon in role-playing video game "Pocket Monsters Red and Green" for Game Boy in Japan
- Mar 8 "Fargo" directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi released in the US
- Jul 21 "The Daily Show", late-night talk and satirical news program hosted by Craig Kilborn premieres on Comedy Central in the US
1996 in Music
- Jan 29 6,138th performance of "Cats" is held in London, surpassing record of Broadway's longest-running musical, "A Chorus Line"
- Feb 13 Death Row/Interscope Records releases rapper Tupac Shakur his 4th studio album "All Eyez on Me"; becomes his final release during his lifetime
- Jul 8 British girls group the Spice Girls release their debut single "Wannabe" in the UK
- Aug 6 American punk rock band "The Ramones" perform for the last time, at the Palace in Hollywood, California
- Sep 7 Rap artist Tupac Shakur shot multiple times in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, dies 6 days later
Did You Know?
Four women ordained priests in Jamaica, 1st in 330-year Anglican history
Dolly the Sheep
Joshua Wong
Florence Pugh
Dove Cameron
Tom Holland
Zendaya
Stefanie Scott
Hailee Steinfeld
Alessia Cara
Lorde
Daniil Medvedev
Scottie Scheffler
Joe BurrowMore People Born in 1996
Fun Fact About 1996
1st clamshell flip mobile phone, the Motorola StarTAC, goes on sale. Eventually 60 million are sold.
François Mitterrand
David McCampbell
Spiro Agnew
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Mary Leakey
Carl Sagan
Gene Kelly
Greer Garson
Claudette Colbert
Tupac Shakur
Walter Kerr
Morton Gould
Ella Fitzgerald
Tiny Tim
René Lacoste
Toni Stone
Pete RozelleMore 1996 Deaths
Articles About 1996
Beauty Contest Winner Claws Her Way To Victory
A beauty contest held every year in America since 1973 has a unique feature – every contestant is a crab! It’s the Miss Crustacean Hermit Crab Beauty Pageant.August 8
Wedding Day for 'Diamond Eye' Cats
Two ‘lucky’ cats were treated to a $28,000 ‘wedding’ by their grateful owner on this day, with 500 human guests who brought gifts worth an incredible $60,000.October 5
Famous Weddings in 1996
- Jan 27 "ER" TV actress Yvette Freeman (39) weds musical director Lawny Hartley (49) in Dunleith, Delaware
- Feb 14 American singer Prince Rogers Nelson (37) weds belly dancer Mayte Garcia (22) in Minneapolis; divorce in 1999
- Feb 14 Secretary of Defense and former US Senator William Cohen of Maine (56) weds Black Entertainment Television host Janet Langhart (54) at United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Famous Divorces in 1996
- Jan 18 Princess of Rock Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from King of Pop Michael Jackson in NYC
- Feb 22 Actress Halle Berry files for divorce from David Justice
- Mar 19 Winnie Madikizela-Mandela divorces Nelson Mandela after 38 years of marriage
More 1996 Weddings
Alanis Morissette
David Ho
Frances McDormand
Geoffrey Rush
Tiger Woods
Bill Clinton
Boris Yeltsin
Helmut Kohl
Jiang Zemin
John Major