1st January » Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Netherlands.
3rd January » The Motorola StarTAC, the first Flip (form) e.g flip phone and one of the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption, goes on sale.
9th January » First Chechen War: Chechen people Chechen Separatism separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis a massiv
11th January » Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of 'Space Shuttle Endeavour or Endeavour'.
17th January » The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
19th January » The barge 'North Cape (ship) known as North Cape' oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat 'Scandia' ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
24th January » Poland called Polish Prime Minister of Poland named Prime Minister Józef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
25th January » Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the USA.
27th January » Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
29th January » President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing.
31st January » An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.
31st January » Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake.
1st February » The Communications Decency Act is passed by the Congress of the United States or U.S. Congress.
4th February » Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee e.g Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ties all-time record low temperature at −26 °F (−32.2 °C)
6th February » Willamette Valley Flood of 1996: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
6th February » Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, and all 189 people inside the airplane are killed. This is the worst accident/incident involving a Boeing 757.
8th February » The Congress of the United States known as U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
8th February » The massive Internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place.
10th February » The IBM supercomputer IBM Deep Blue named Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
15th February » At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing many people.
17th February » In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the IBM Deep Blue called Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
24th February » The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church.
29th February » Faucett Flight 251 crashes in the Andes, all 123 passengers and crew died.
4th March » A Weyauwega, Wisconsin, derailment named derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, US, causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
13th March » Dunblane massacre: in Dunblane, Scotland, 16 primary school children and one teacher are shot dead by spree killer Thomas Watt Hamilton who then commits suicide.
18th March » A Ozone Disco Club fire named nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
23rd March » Taiwan holds its ROC Presidential Election 1996 or first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President of the Republic of China or President.
25th March » An Montana Freemen Standoff named 81-day-long standoff between the anti-government group Montana Freemen and law enforcement near Jordan, Montana, begins.
3rd April » Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his cabin in Montana, United States.
3rd April » A United States Air Force airplane carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown (U.S. politician) e.g Ron Brown 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash e.g crashes in Croatia, killing all 35 on board.
4th April » Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.
18th April » In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are 1996 shelling of Qana known as killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.
24th April » In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is passed into law.
28th April » Whitewater controversy: President Bill Clinton gives a 4½ hour videotaped testimony for the defense.
6th May » The body of former Central Intelligence Agency named CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
11th May » The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
13th May » Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
20th May » LGBT rights in the United States or Civil 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 judicia
21st May » The ferry MV or Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.
21st May » The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas, kidnapped during the Algerian Civil War and held for two months, are found dead.
27th May » First Chechnya War: the President of Russia named Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
4th June » The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
10th June » Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin.
12th June » In Philadelphia, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet.
13th June » The Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents.
15th June » The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes 1996 Manchester bombing e.g a large bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, United Kingdom.
18th June » Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, is indicted on ten criminal counts.
28th June » The Constitution of Ukraine is signed into law.
3rd July » Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
5th July » Dolly (sheep) called Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
15th July » A Belgian Air Component or Belgian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules called C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport.
17th July » TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island or Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
17th July » The Community of Portuguese Language Countries is founded.
27th July » Centennial Olympic Park bombing: In Atlanta or Atlanta, United States, a pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics. One woman (Alice Hawthorne) is killed, and a cameraman suffers a heart attack fleeing the scene. One hu
28th July » The remains of a Prehistory e.g prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.
29th July » The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a United States federal courts named U.S. federal court as too broad.
6th August » NASA announces that the Allan Hills 84001 e.g ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
14th August » Greek Cypriot refugee Solomos Solomou is murdered by Turkish forces while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus.
22nd August » Bill Clinton signs Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act known as welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy
28th August » Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce.
29th August » Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
4th September » War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare Department known as Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130 Colombians are killed.
5th September » Hurricane Fran makes landfall near Cape Fear (headland) or Cape Fear, North Carolina as a Tropical cyclone called Category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained winds. Fran caused over $3 billion in damage and killed 27 people.
24th September » Representatives of 71 nations sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.
25th September » The last of the Magdalene asylums closes in Ireland.
27th September » In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.
27th September » The 'Julie N.' tanker ship crashes into the Million Dollar Bridge (Maine) e.g Million Dollar Bridge in Portland, Maine spilling thousands of gallons of oil.
28th September » Former president of Afghanistan Mohammad Najibullah is tortured and brutally murdered by the Taliban.
30th September » The United States Congress passes an Amendment that bars the possession of firearms for people who were convicted of domestic violence, even misdemeanor level.
2nd October » The Freedom of Information Act (United States) named Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
2nd October » Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru, killing 70.
7th October » The Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.
11th October » Pala accident: a wood lorry and school bus collide in Jõgeva county, Estonia, killing eight children.
16th October » 84 people are killed and more than 180 injured as 47,000 association football called football fans attempt to squeeze into the 36,000-seat 'Estadio Mateo Flores' in Guatemala City.
3rd November » Death of Abdullah Çatlı, leader of the Turkish ultra-nationalist organisation Grey Wolves in the Susurluk scandal e.g Susurluk car-crash, which leads to the resignation of the Interior Minister (Turkey) named Turkish Interior Minister, Mehmet Ağar (a lead
5th November » President of Pakistan or Pakistani President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari dismisses the government of Prime Minister of Pakistan known as Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and dissolves the National Assembly of Pakistan.
7th November » NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
12th November » A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision named collide in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349. The deadliest mid-air collision to date.
18th November » A 1996 Channel Tunnel fire known as fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel.
19th November » Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrives in Africa to lead a multi-national policing force in Zaire.
21st November » Humberto Vidal Explosion: Thirty-three people die when a Humberto Vidal shoe shop explodes.
23rd November » Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.
25th November » An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.
20th December » NeXT merges with Apple Inc. called Apple Computer, starting the path to OS X or Mac OS X.
26th December » Start of the 1996–1997 strikes in South Korea named largest strike in South Korean history.
27th December » Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan.
29th December » Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year Guatemalan Civil War e.g civil war.
30th December » In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo people named Bodo separatists, killing 26.
30th December » Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers who shut down services across Israel.