File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park
Centennial Olympic Park is a public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. It was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) as part of the infrastruc ...
in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, set off by a radical anti-abortionist
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as counte ...
; The center fuel tank
A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propel ...
explodes on TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International A ...
, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on board; Eight people die in a blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...
on Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...
; Dolly the Sheep becomes the first mammal to have been cloned from an adult somatic cell
A somatic cell (from Ancient Greek σῶμα ''sôma'', meaning "body"), or vegetal cell, is any biological cell forming the body of a multicellular organism other than a gamete, germ cell, gametocyte or undifferentiated stem cell. Such cells co ...
; The Port Arthur Massacre Port Arthur massacre may refer to:
*Port Arthur massacre (China), an 1894 event in which Japanese troops killed several thousand Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula
*Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting t ...
occurs on Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, and leads to major changes in Australia's gun laws; Macarena, sung by Los del Río
Los del Río (, "Those from the River"), also known as The Del Rios, are a Spanish Latin pop and dance duo which was formed in 1962 by Antonio Romero Monge (17 February 1948) and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones (10 November 1947). They are best known fo ...
and remixed by The Bayside Boys, becomes a major dance craze and cultural phenomenon; Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 crash-ditches off of the Comoros Islands
The Comoro Islands or Comoros ( Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northw ...
after the plane was hijacked; the 1996 Summer Olympics are held in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, marking the Centennial (100th Anniversary) of the modern Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
., 300x300px, thumb
rect 0 0 200 200 Centennial Olympic Park bombing
rect 200 0 400 200 TWA FLight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International A ...
rect 400 0 600 200 1996 Mount Everest disaster
The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making it ...
rect 0 200 300 400 1996 Summer Olympics
rect 300 200 600 400 Dolly the Sheep
rect 0 400 200 600 Ethiopian Airlines FLight 961
rect 200 400 400 600 Macarena
rect 400 400 600 600 Port Arthur Massacre Port Arthur massacre may refer to:
*Port Arthur massacre (China), an 1894 event in which Japanese troops killed several thousand Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula
*Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting t ...
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events
January
*
January 8 – A
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
an cargo plane
crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Kinshasa, killing 300 people.
*
January 9–
20 – Serious fighting breaks out between Russian soldiers and rebel fighters in
Chechnya.
*
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muham ...
–
Ryutaro Hashimoto
was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of one of the largest factions within the ruling LDP through most of the 1990s and remained a powerful back-room player in Japanese politic ...
, leader of the
Liberal Democratic Party, becomes
Prime Minister of Japan
The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...
.
*
January 13
Events Pre-1600
*27 BC – Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years.
* 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racin ...
–
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
Events Pre-1600
*1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
* 1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1601–1900
* 1639 – The " Fundamental Orders", the first written ...
–
Jorge Sampaio
Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (; 18 September 1939 – 10 September 2021) was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th president of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. A member of the Socialist Party, a party which he led between 1989 an ...
is elected President of Portugal.
*
January 16 – President of
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
Valentine Strasser is deposed by the chief of defence,
Julius Maada Bio. Bio promises to restore power following elections scheduled for February.
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender ...
** The
''North Cape'' oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat ''Scandia'' ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...
. The ''North Cape'' Barge is pulled along with it and leaks 820,000 gallons of home heating oil.
** An
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n ferry sinks off the northern tip of
Sumatra, drowning more than 100 people.
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
*1156 &nda ...
–
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
is re-elected president of the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, .
*
January 21
Events Pre-1600
* 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
*1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Co ...
– France undertakes its
last nuclear weapons test.
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor ('' Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw ...
–
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, wh ...
,
Prime Minister of Greece, resigns due to health problems; a new government forms under
Costas Simitis.
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
* 1438 – The ...
– Polish Premier
Józef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He is replaced by
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to b ...
– Colonel
Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara
General Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (May 9, 1949 – April 9, 1999) was a military officer and diplomat in Niger who ruled the country from his seizure of power in 1996 until his assassination during the military coup of April 1999.
Baré Maïn ...
deposes the first democratically elected President of
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Mahamane Ousmane
Mahamane Ousmane (born 20 January 1950), press release no. 179, is a Nigerien politician. He was the first democratically elected and fourth President of Niger, serving from 16 April 1993, U.S. Department of State. until he was deposed in a mili ...](_blank)
, in a military coup.
*
January 28
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany.
* 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession ...
– The
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...
defeat the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...
27–17 in
Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
for their fifth Super Bowl victory.
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
*1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
**
Colombo Central Bank bombing
The Central Bank bombing was one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the separatist civil war in Sri Lanka between the government and the Tamil Tigers.
Incident
The attack took place on 31 ...
: an explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
**
An amateur astronomer from southern Japan discovers
Comet Hyakutake; it will pass very close to the Earth in March.
February
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
*1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
* 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– The 6.6
earthquake near Lijiang in South-west China kills up to 322 people, injures 17,000, and leaves 300,000 homeless.
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
*AD 62, 62 – AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
*1576 – Henry IV of France, Henry of Navarre :wikt:abjure, abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Re ...
– The Kowloon Station From
Hung Hom Station, the Canton Rail to KCR East Rail.
*
February 6 –
Birgenair Flight 301, on a charter flight from the
Caribbean to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nda ...
–
René Préval succeeds
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince ...
as President of
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
in the first peaceful handover of power since the nation achieved independence 192 years earlier, in 1804.
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
*1539 – The first recorded race is held ...
** The element
copernicium
Copernicium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Cn and atomic number 112. Its known isotopes are extremely radioactive, and have only been created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, copernicium-285, has a half-life of ap ...
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.
** 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.
**
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
formally finalizes its $19 billion acquisition of the
ABC parent,
Capital Cities/ABC Inc.
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
*1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparki ...
–
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
s break off contact with the
Bosnian government and with representatives of Ifor, the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
localised force, in reaction to the arrest of several Bosnian Serb war criminals.
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Lo ...
– Violent clashes erupt between
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
soldiers and
Vietnamese boat people
Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...
, as the Filipino government attempts to forcibly
repatriate hundreds of Vietnamese
asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...
s.
*
February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Ti ...
** The American Embassy in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
, comes under mortar fire.
** Begum
Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of B ...
is re-elected as Prime Minister of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
. 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.
** The UK government publishes the
Scott Report
The Scott Report (the ''Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions'') was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports surfaced of previously restricted arms sales to ...
.

*
February 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
* 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons ...
– The 8.2
Biak earthquake strikes the
Papua province of eastern
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
with a maximum
Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''). A large tsunami followed, leaving 166 people dead or missing and 423 injured.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene Christianity, Nicene bishops with Arianism, Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
*1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of ...
–
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n fighter jets shoot down two American aircraft belonging to the Cuban exile group
Brothers to the Rescue
Brothers to the Rescue ( es, Hermanos al Rescate) is a Miami-based activist nonprofit organization headed by José Basulto. Formed by Cuban exiles, the group is widely known for its opposition to the Cuban government and its former leader Fidel Ca ...
. Cuban officials assert that they invaded Cuban airspace.
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
*138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
*13 ...
– Two suicide bombs in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
kill 25 and injure 80;
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
claims responsibility.
*
February 29
**
Faucett Perú Flight 251
Faucett Perú Flight 251 refers to a Boeing 737-200 that was operating a domestic scheduled Lima–Arequipa–Tacna passenger service and crashed on 29 February 1996, while completing the first leg, on approach to Rodríguez Ballón Internation ...
en route from
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...
to Rodriguez Ballon airport crashes into a mountain near
Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated cit ...
; all 123 people on board are killed.
** At least 81 people drown when a boat capsizes 120 kilometres east of
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...
.
** The
Bosnian government
The Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, whereby executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legislative power is vested in both th ...
declares the end of the
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then ...
.
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian and ...
–
Iraq disarmament crisis
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biologi ...
: Iraqi forces refuse
UNSCOM inspection teams access to five sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to seventeen hours.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cu ...
** The plane of the Brazilian rock band
Mamonas Assassinas
Mamonas Assassinas was a Brazilian satirical rock band. Their musical style employed a humorous mixture between rock and a wide range of styles, often borrowing elements from other music, among which were the main riff of the Portuguese Vira ("V ...
crashes in the
Serra da Cantareira, killing all its members on board. Their short lived and "meteoric" success were celebrated for decades and the members are remembered and celebrated even to the present day in Brazil.
**
1996 Australian federal election
The 1996 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 38th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 2 March 1996. All 148 seats of the House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Senate were up for election. The ...
: The
Liberal/
National Coalition led by
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
defeats the
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...
led by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously ser ...
. Howard was sworn in on March 11.
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
*1575 & ...
–
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain.
A member of the F ...
, leader of the
Popular Party, is elected as
Prime Minister of Spain
The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regula ...
, replacing
Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since t ...
.
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
*1575 & ...
–
4 – Two suicide bombs explode in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, killing 32 people. The
Yahya Ayyash Units admit responsibility, and
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
president
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
condemns the killings in a televised address. Israel warns of retaliation.
*
March 6
Events Pre-1600
*12 BCE – The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
* 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
* 845 ...
**
Mesut Yılmaz of
ANAP forms the new government of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
(53rd government).
** A boat carrying market traders capsizes outside
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...
harbour in
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
, killing at least 86 people.
**
Chechnya, Chechen rebels attack the Russian government headquarters in
Grozny
Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia.
The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...
; 70 Russian soldiers and policemen and 130 Chechen fighters are killed.
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
*1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
* 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
*1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bo ...
–
China begins
surface-to-surface missile
A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed ins ...
testing and military exercises off
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
ese coastal areas. The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
government condemns the act as provocation, and the
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
ese government warns of retaliation.
*
March 9
Events Pre-1600
* 141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
* 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
*1226 &nda ...
–
Jorge Sampaio
Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (; 18 September 1939 – 10 September 2021) was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th president of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. A member of the Socialist Party, a party which he led between 1989 an ...
becomes the new Portuguese president.
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
* 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
* 1591 – At the Battle of ...
–
Dunblane massacre
The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 pupils and one teacher, and injured 15 others, before killing himself. It remains the deadlies ...
: Unemployed former shopkeeper
Thomas Hamilton walks into the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland and opens fire, killing sixteen infant school pupils and one teacher before committing suicide.
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
*1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– An international peace summit is held in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
in response to escalating terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
*
March 15
Events Pre-1600
*474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.
* 44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place.
* 493 – ...
–
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 191 ...
, a major manufacturer of small size
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...
, goes
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
in
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
*1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
–
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...
is re-elected as President of
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, although only 32% of the electorate actually voted.
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
*45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age o ...
–
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
wins the Cricket World Cup by beating
Australia in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
.
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
*1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ar ...
– The
Ozone Disco Club fire in
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was foun ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
kills 163 people.
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
*106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
–
Sweden's Finance Minister
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson (; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007.
Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parlia ...
becomes the new
Prime Minister of Sweden
The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...
.
*
March 23
Events Pre-1600
*1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
*1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last rel ...
–
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
(Republic of China) holds its first direct elections for president;
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...
is re-elected.
*
March 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
*1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate ...
– The
Marcopper mining disaster on the island of
Marinduque,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
takes place.
*
March 25
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
* 708 – Pope Constantine becomes the 88th pope. He would be the last pope to visi ...
– The
68th Academy Awards
The 68th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles begi ...
, hosted by
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
, are held at the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center
The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
with ''
Braveheart'' winning
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is ...
– The
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...
approves a $10.2 billion loan to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
for economic reform.
April
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
...
** A
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two ...
military jet crashes into a mountain north of Dubrovnik, Croatia. All 35 people on board are killed, including
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
Ron Brown
Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairman of the Democratic National Co ...
.
** Massacres of
Hutu
The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the pr ...
s by
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic gr ...
s in
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...
take place with more than 450 killed within a few days.
** The FBI arrested
Theodore Kaczynski
Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...
, the suspected Unabomber at his cabin in
Lincoln, Montana.
*
April 6
Events Pre–1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.
* 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
* ...
** Fighting breaks out in
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...
,
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...
, between various rebel factions struggling for power in the country's interrupted civil war. Several foreign nationals leave the nation.
**
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
authorities begin Operation Hawk, a military offensive against rebels from the
Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sou ...
in south-east Turkey.
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, su ...
– In a common statement, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
officially recognises the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...
.
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
*1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
* 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Fer ...
– The
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i government launches
Operation Grapes of Wrath, consisting of massive attacks on
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, in retaliation for "terrorist attacks", and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.
*
April 13
Events Pre-1600
*1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
1601–1900
*1612 – In one of the epic samurai ...
–
Mansouri massacre
The Mansouri attack occurred on 13 April 1996, when an Israel Defence Forces helicopter attacked a vehicle in Mansouri, a village in Southern Lebanon, killing two women and four children.
Attack
At 1:30 PM, Abbas Jiha, a farmer and volunteer am ...
: 2 women and 4 children are killed after an Israeli helicopter strikes an ambulance in
Mansouri, Lebanon.
*
April 16 –
Nabatieh Fawka massacre
The Nabatieh Fawka attack occurred on 16 April 1996, when Israeli warplanes bombed an apartment in the village of Nabatieh Fawka, killing nine people, seven of whom were children.
Context
On September 19, 1994, the village came under attack and ...
: A Israeli strike on a civilian house in
Nabatieh Fawka, Lebanon, kills 9 people, including 7 children.
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
*1428 – Peace of Ferrara be ...
**
Qana massacre: Over 100
Lebanese
Lebanese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic
* Lebanese people
The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...
civilians are killed after Israel shells the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
compound in
Qana
Qana, also spelled Cana or Kana, ( ar, قانا) is a town in southern Lebanon located southeast of the city of Tyre and north of the border with Israel, in an area historically known as Upper Galilee.
The 10,000 residents of Qana are prim ...
. In reaction, an
Islamist group in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
opens fire on a hotel, killing eighteen Greek tourists and injuring seventeen others.
** Two days before the NFL draft, Nebraska
Quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Brook Berringer is killed when the plane he is piloting crashes in an alfalfa field. During the 1996 NFL draft, the league held a moment of silence for Berringer, who was expected to be selected by the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
.
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
*1428 – Peace of Ferrara be ...
–
19 – Two consecutive tornados hit
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in ...
, causing approximately $10.5 million in damage. The April 19 tornado also hits
Urbana and
Ogden.
*
April 21 – A
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
in Italy proclaims a new center-left government headed by
Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prime ...
, replacing
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
.
*
April 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
*1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy ...
– At the urging of
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
, the
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and st ...
drops its clause calling for the removal of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The Israeli government responds by dropping a similar clause concerning the existence of
Palestine.
*
April 26 – Shanghai Five group, predecessor of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
russian: Шанхайская Организация Сотрудничества
, image =
, caption =
, logo = SCO logo.svg
, logo_size = 160px
, map = Shanghai Cooperati ...
, is created with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
by the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ov ...
**
Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 28 April 1996 at Port Arthur, a tourist town in the Australian state of Tasmania. The perpetrator, Martin Bryant, killed 35 people and wounded 23 others, the worst massacre in mo ...
:
Martin Bryant kills 35 people at the
Port Arthur tourist site in
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
.
**
Bhai Pheru bus bombing
The Bhai Pheru bus bombing was a bombing targeting a bus in Bhai Pheru (now Phool Nagar), Pakistan killing 52 and injuring 26.
Bombing
On 28 April 1996, a bus picked up passengers at Kot Radha Kishan bus stop in Bhai Pheru. The bus (FDJ 9176) was ...
: A bomb explodes in
Bhai Pheru
Phool Nagar (Punjabi and ur, ), previously Bhai Pheru ( ur, بھائی پھیرو), is a city of the Kasur District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is named after the former Minister of the area Rana Phool Muhammad Khan.
Location
...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, killing more than 60 people.
May
* May –
Iraq disarmament crisis
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biologi ...
: UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
* 1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally ...
** South Africa's
National Party pulls out of the coalition government formed two years earlier, and the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
assumes full political control.
**
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...
n president
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
wins a landslide victory in the country's first direct presidential elections, securing 75% of the vote.
*
May 10
Events Pre-1600
* 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.
*1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of E ...
**
1996 Everest disaster
The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making it ...
: A sudden storm engulfs
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...
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.
** The Australian government introduces a nationwide ban on the private possession of both
automatic
Automatic may refer to:
Music Bands
* Automatic (band), Australian rock band
* Automatic (American band), American rock band
* The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band
Albums
* ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 electronic rock ...
and
semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt- ...
s, in response to the
Port Arthur massacre Port Arthur massacre may refer to:
*Port Arthur massacre (China), an 1894 event in which Japanese troops killed several thousand Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula
*Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting t ...
.
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across th ...
– After takeoff from
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
, a fire started by improperly handled
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...
canisters in the cargo hold of
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
-bound
ValuJet Flight 592
ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. On May 11, 1996, the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the route crashed into ...
causes the
Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas.
After ...
to crash in the
Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board.
*
May 13 – Severe
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...
s and a
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
kill 600 people.
*
May 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
*1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
*1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore F ...
–
28 –
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...
, leader of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...
, is elected as
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India ( IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of th ...
, replacing
P. V. Narasimha Rao
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...
of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...
. 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
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
leader,
Deve Gowda
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karnat ...
.
*
May 18 – The
X Prize Foundation launches the $10,000,000
Ansari X Prize.
*
May 21
** The ''
MV Bukoba'' sinks in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
n waters in
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
, killing nearly 1,000 people in one of Africa's worst maritime disasters.
** The
Trappist
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...
Martyrs of Atlas are executed.
*
May 23
Events Pre-1600
*1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.
*1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
*1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII ...
– Members of the
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from french: Groupe Islamique Armé; ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, al-Jamāʿa l-ʾIslāmiyya l-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian gov ...
in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, religi ...
kill seven French
Trappist
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...
monks, after talks with French government concerning the imprisonment of several GIA sympathisers break down.
*
May 27
Events Pre-1600
*1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
*1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
–
: Russian President
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
meets with
Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a ceasefire for the dispute.
*
May 28
Events Pre-1600
*585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from ...
–
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...
's general election of
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire tak ...
is declared unfair by international monitors, and the ruling
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
under President Muhannad Ibrahim is charged by the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
with rigging the elections. Several hundred protestors gather in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
to demonstrate against the election result.
*
May 30
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres ...
– The
Likud Party, led by
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
, wins a narrow victory in the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i general election.
June
* June –
Iraq disarmament crisis
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biologi ...
: As Iraq continues to refuse inspectors access to a number of sites, the United States fails in its attempt to build support for military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council.
*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
*1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king o ...
–
3 – The Czech Republic's first general election ends inconclusively. Prime Minister
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...
and his incumbent
Civic Democratic Party emerge as the winners, but are unable to form a majority government. President
Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and the ...
refuses to invite Klaus to form a coalition.
*
June 4
Events Pre-1600
* 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
*1561 – The steeple of St Paul's, the medieval cathe ...
– The space
rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...
Ariane 5
Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads in ...
explodes forty seconds after takeoff in
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
. The project costs European governments $7,500,000,000 over eleven years.
*
June 6 –
Leighton W. Smith, Jr. resigns as
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
commander in the face of increasing criticism.
*
June 8–
30 –
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
hosts the
UEFA Euro 1996
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...
football tournament, which is won by
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
.
*
June 11
Events Pre-1600
* 173 – Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty ( 171). In a violent thunderstorm emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called "miracle ...
** An explosion in a
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
suburban shopping centre kills 44 people 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; eight people are killed.
*
June 15
Events Pre-1600
* 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
* 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
* 923 – Battle of Soi ...
– In
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, UK, an
IRA bomb injures over 200 people and devastates a large part of the city centre.
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
*1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
*1461 – Ed ...
** A new government is formed in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, with
Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later bann ...
of
Refah Partisi becoming Prime Minister of the coalition government, and Deputy/Foreign Minister
Tansu Çiller
Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path ...
of the
True Path Party succeeding him after two years.
** The
Constitution of Ukraine
The Constitution of Ukraine ( uk, Конституція України, translit=Konstytutsiia Ukrainy) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the '' Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament ...
is signed into law.
*
June 29
Events Pre-1600
* 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei.
*1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi.
*1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, le ...
**
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...
concert is held in
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Gre ...
, and is attended by 150,000 people.
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are conside ...
headlines the event in their first performance since 1989.
** An explosion in a firecrackers factory in
Sichuan Province
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...
, China kills at least 52 people and injures 83 others.
*
June 30
Events Pre-1600
* 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.
* 763 – The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.
* 1422 – Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan an ...
**
Costas Simitis is elected president of the
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political partie ...
of Greece.
**
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
leader
Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes ...
relinquishes power to his deputy,
Biljana Plavšić
Biljana Plavšić ( sr-Cyrl, Биљана Плавшић; born 7 July 1930) is a former Bosnian Serb politician and university professor who served as President of Republika Srpska and was later convicted of crimes against humanity for her rol ...
.
July
* July
**
Iraq disarmament crisis
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biologi ...
: U.N. Inspector
Scott Ritter attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport but is blocked by
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i officials.
** The
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n government officially renames the city of Madras, restoring the name
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...
.
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
** The
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...
in Australia legalises voluntary
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
.
**
German orthography reform of 1996 agreed internationally.
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolu ...
–
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
is
re-elected as
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
after the second round of elections.
*
July 5 –
Dolly the sheep, the first
mammal to be successfully
cloned from an adult
cell, is born at the
Roslin Institute
The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Easter Bush, Midlothian, Scotland, part of the University of Edinburgh, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
It is best known for creatin ...
in
Midlothian
Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east- central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinbur ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
,
UK.
*
July 11
Events Pre-1600
* 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter's Basilica and put to death.
* 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, ...
– Arrest warrants are issued for
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
war criminals
Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes ...
and
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić ( sr-Cyrl, Ратко Младић, ; born 12 March 1942) is a Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal and colonel-general who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2017, he was found guilty of committing ...
by the
Russell Tribunal
The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, Russell–Sartre Tribunal, or Stockholm Tribunal, was a private People's Tribunal organised in 1966 by Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, and ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
.
*
July 12 –
Hurricane Bertha: made landfall in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
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.
*
July 16 – An outbreak of
E. coli food poisoning
Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food,
as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disea ...
in Japan results in 6,000 children being ill, including two deaths, after a group of school children eat contaminated lunches.
*
July 17
Events Pre-1600
* 180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
*1048 – Damasu ...
** The
Community of Portuguese Language Countries
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international ...
(Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa) is constituted.
** Paris- and Rome-bound
TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International A ...
(
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...
) explodes off the coast of
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...
, killing all 230 people on board.
*
July 19
Events Pre-1600
* AD 64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.
* 484 – Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned Eastern emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). He is ...
** The
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
, United States, begin.
**
Bosnian Serb
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...
President
Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes ...
resigns from public office in
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...
after being indicted for
war crimes.
*
July 21 – The
Saguenay Flood
The Saguenay flood (french: Déluge du Saguenay) was a series of flash floods on July 19 and 20, 1996 that hit the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It was the biggest overland flood in 20th-century Canadian history.
History ...
, one of Canada's most costly
natural disasters, is caused by flooding on the
Saguenay River
__NOTOC__
The Saguenay River () is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...
in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
.
*
July 24
Events Pre-1600
*1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.
*1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.
*1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of St ...
– The
Dehiwala train bombing kills 56 commuters outside
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
.
*
July 25
Events Pre-1600
* 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
* 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Brid ...
– The
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic gr ...
-led
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...
an army performs a
coup and reinstalls previous president
Pierre Buyoya
Pierre Buyoya (24 November 1949 – 17 December 2020) was a Burundian army officer and politician who served two terms as President of Burundi in 1987 to 1993 and 1996 to 2003. He was the second-longest serving president in Burundian history.
An ...
, ousting current president
Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.
*
July 27
** The
Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the
1996 Summer Olympics kills one person and injures 111.
** Indonesian government forces
attacked the head office of the
Indonesian Democratic Party, which was being occupied by supporters of recently ousted party leader
Megawati Sukarnoputri
Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004. She previously served as the eighth vice president from 1999 to 2001.
Megawati i ...
.
August

* August
** The first three-parent baby is conceived in New Jersey through
mitochondrial donation.
** The
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...
Asian long-horned beetle is found in New York City.
*
August 1
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.
*AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt und ...
**
Sarah Balabagan
Sarah Balabagan-Sereno (born March 8, 1979) is a Filipina who was imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates from 1994 to 1996 for murder. She was initially sentenced to death, but was later returned to the Philippines. Her story was made into a fil ...
returns to the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
** A pro-democracy demonstration supporting
Megawati Sukarnoputri
Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004. She previously served as the eighth vice president from 1999 to 2001.
Megawati i ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
is broken up by riot police.
*
August 4 – The
1996 Summer Olympics conclude.
*
August 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
*1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Ques ...
–
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
announces that the
Allan Hills 84001
Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001) is a fragment of a Martian meteorite that was found in the Allan Hills in Antarctica on December 27, 1984, by a team of American meteorite hunters from the ANSMET project. Like other members of the shergottite– ...
meteorite, thought to originate from
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...
, may contain evidence of primitive lifeforms; further tests are inconclusive.
*
August 7
Events Pre-1600
* 461 – Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the ''magister militum'' Ricimer.
* 626 – The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Co ...
– Heavy rains kill more than 80 campers near
Huesca
Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, al ...
, Spain.
*
August 9
Events Pre-1600
*48 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Ancient Egypt, Egypt.
* 378 – Gothic War (376–382), Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople: A la ...
–
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
is sworn in at the
Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
for a second term as
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
.
*
August 13 – Data sent back by the
Galileo space probe
A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ...
indicates there may be
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
on one of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...
's moons.
*
August 14
Events Pre-1600
* 74 BC – A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan. The articles, enumerating t ...
– A rocket ignited during a
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
display in
Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated cit ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
knocks down a high-tension power cable into a dense crowd, electrocuting 35 people.
*
August 15 –
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his ...
is nominated for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
, and
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional gridiron football, football player. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from New York, he served as United States Sec ...
for vice president, at the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.
*
August 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.
* 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Ha ...
–
Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogni ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. After a 3-year-old boy falls into the deep gorilla enclosure,
Binti Jua, a female lowland
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...
sits with the injured boy until his rescue.
*
August 21
Events Pre-1600
* 959 – Eraclus becomes the 25th bishop of Liège.
*1140 – Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars.
*1169 – B ...
** Former State President of South Africa,
F. W. de Klerk
Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...
, makes an official apology for crimes committed under
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
to the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...
.
** In the UK, Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
issues
letters patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, t ...
on divorced former wives of British princes, taking away from the ex-wives the attribute and style of
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''.
When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it ta ...
. With that
Sarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a member of the British royal family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles II ...
as well as
Diana, Princess of Wales legally cease to be Royals, but they remain as non-royal Duchess and Princess.
*
August 23 –
Osama bin Laden writes "The Declaration of Jihad on the Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Sacred Places," a call for the removal of American military forces from Saudi Arabia.
*
August 26 –
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
historian
Randy Kryn
Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...
and 10 others are arrested by the
Federal Protective Service while protesting in a demonstration at the
Kluczynski Federal Building
The Kluczynski Federal Building is a skyscraper in the downtown Chicago Loop located at 230 South Dearborn Street. The 45-story structure was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1974 as the last portion of the new Federal Center ...
in downtown
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
during
that year's Democratic National Convention.
*
August 28
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
* 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his wa ...
– Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...
in London. Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled
Diana, Princess of Wales, due to the Queen's
letters patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, t ...
issued a week earlier.
*
August 29
Events Pre-1600
* 708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
* 870 – The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzanti ...
** U.S. President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
and Vice President
Al Gore are re-nominated at the
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
.
** A Russian
Tupolev
Tupolev (russian: Ту́полев, ), officially Joint Stock Company Tupolev, is a Russian aerospace and defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow.
Tupolev is successor to the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau ( OKB-156, design of ...
154 jetliner
crashes into a mountain as it approaches the airport at
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern N ...
, Norway, killing all 141 people on board.
*
August 31
Events Pre-1600
* 1056 – After a sudden illness a few days previously, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.
*1057 – Abdication of Byzantine Emperor Michael VI Bringas after just one year ...
–
Iraq disarmament crisis
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biologi ...
: Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern
No-Fly Zone
A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's te ...
and capture Arbil.
September
*
September 2
Events
Pre-1600
* 44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
* 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his '' Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of th ...
– A permanent peace agreement is signed at the
Malacañan Palace between the
Government of the Philippines
The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and de ...
and the
Moro National Liberation Front
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF; ar, الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير مورو) is a political organization in the Philippines that was founded in 1972. It started as a splinter group of the Muslim Independence Movement. The ...
.
*
September 3
Events Pre-1600
* 36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
* 301
__NOTOC__
Year 301 (Ro ...
– The United States launches
Operation Desert Strike against
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
in reaction to the attack on Arbil.
*
September 4
Events Pre-1600
* 476 – Romulus Augustulus is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire.
* 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne ove ...
– The
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia attack a military base in
Guaviare, Colombia, starting three weeks of
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ...
that will claim the lives of at least 130
Colombians.
*
September 5
Events Pre-1600
* 917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu.
* 1367 – Swa Saw Ke becomes king of Ava
*1590 – Alexander Farnese's army forces Hen ...
–
Hurricane Fran
Hurricane Fran caused extensive damage in the United States in early September 1996. The sixth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season, Fran developed from a tropical wave near Cape Verde on A ...
makes landfall near
Cape Fear,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
as a
Category 3 storm with 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.
*
September 10
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde.
*1419 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France.
*1509 – An earthq ...
–
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nation ...
(CTBT) signed (it will be ratified 180 days after ratification by 44 Annex 2 countries).
*
September 13
Events Pre-1600
*585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.
* 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...
–
Alija Izetbegović
Alija Izetbegović (; ; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, lawyer, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first president of the Presidency of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovin ...
is elected President of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...
in the country's first election since the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
.
*
September 20 – Leader of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i opposition party
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...
Murtaza Bhutto
Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto (; 18 September 1954 – 20 September 1996) was a Pakistani politician and leader of al-Zulfiqar, a Pakistani left-wing militant organization. The son of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, he ear ...
is killed during a gunfight with police.
*
September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
*1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of the ...
– The
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political partie ...
under the leadership of
Costas Simitis succeeds in the 1996 Greek legislative election.
*
September 24 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nation ...
at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
.
*
September 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
*1331 – The Battle of Płowce is fought, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teuto ...
– In
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...
, the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...
capture the capital city of
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...
, after driving out President
Burhanuddin Rabbani
Burhānuddīn Rabbānī ( Persian: ; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistani politician and teacher who served as President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996 (in exile from 1996 to 2001).
Born in the Badakhshan Province, R ...
and executing former leader
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (Pashto/ prs, محمد نجیبالله احمدزی, ; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Par ...
.
*
September 29 – The
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
is released in North America.
October
*
October 2
Events Pre-1600
* 829 – Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor.
* 939 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and o ...
–
Aeroperú Flight 603 crashes into the Pacific Ocean when the instruments fail just after takeoff from
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...
Airport, killing all 70 people on board.
*
October 6 – The government of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
agrees to pay $130 million worth of compensation for the loss of land suffered by the
Māori population between the years of 1844 and 1864.
*
October 22 – A fire at La Planta prison in southwest
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
, Venezuela, kills thirty prisoners.
* October 24 – The First Congo War begins.
* October 31 – TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 crashes into a densely populated area of
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
, killing all 96 people on board.
November
* November –
Iraq disarmament crisis
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biologi ...
: 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 – 1996 United States presidential election: Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
defeats his Republican Party (United States), Republican challenger,
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his ...
and Reform Party of the United States of America, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot.
* November 7
** A Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, category 4 1996 Andhra Pradesh cyclone, cyclone strikes Andhra Pradesh, India, killing at least 1,000 people.
**
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
* November 8 – All 144 people on board a Nigerian-owned Boeing 727 die after the aircraft ADC Airlines Flight 086, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while approaching Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport, airport.
* November 12 – Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision, collides in mid-air with Kazakhstan Airlines Il-76 in New Delhi, India, resulting in the loss of 349 lives.
* November 17
** A bomb explodes in Kaspiysk, Russia, killing 32 people.
** Emil Constantinescu is elected as President of Romania.
* November 18 – Frederick Chiluba is re-elected as President of Zambia.
* 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
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
earlier this year.
** Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Organization (CTBTO) established.
** ''STS-80'': Space Shuttle Columbia conducts the longest mission of the Space Shuttle program.
* November 20 – The 1996 Garley Building fire occurred in Hong Kong, resulting in 41 deaths and 81 injuries.
* November 21 – A propane Humberto Vidal explosion, explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33 people.
* November 23
** The Angola, Republic of Angola officially joins the World Trade Organization as ''Angola''.
**
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.
* November 25 – An ice storm strikes the U.S. killing 26 directly and hundreds more from accidents. A powerful windstorm blasts Florida with winds gusts up to 90 mph.
December
* December 9 – Jerry Rawlings is re-elected as President of Ghana.
* 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 a 99-year lease to the United Kingdom.
* December 13 – Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is elected by the United Nations Security Council the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
* December 17 – The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement takes 72 hostages in the Japanese Embassy in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
.
* December 25 – At least 283 migrants drown in the Sinking of F174, sinking of ''F174'' near Capo Passero (Sicily).
* December 26
** The 1996–97 strikes in South Korea, largest strike in South Korean history begins.
** Six-year-old Death of JonBenét Ramsey, JonBenét Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
* December 27 –
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...
forces retake the strategic Bagram Air Base, solidifying their buffer zone around
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...
.
* December 29 – Guatemala and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord that ends the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War.
* December 30 – In the Indian state of Assam, a passenger train is bombed by Bodo people, Bodo separatists, killing 26.
Births
January

* January 2 – Xiaoyu Yu, Chinese figure skater
* January 3 – Florence Pugh, English actress
* January 5
** Maxim Baldry, English actor
** Tyler Ulis, American basketball player
* January 6
** Courtney Eaton, Australian actress
** Harmanpreet Singh, Indian hockey player
* January 7 – Helly Shah, Indian actress
* January 10 – Anna Sztankovics, Hungarian swimmer
*
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muham ...
– Leroy Sané, German footballer
* January 12 – Ella Henderson, English singer
* January 15 – Dove Cameron, American actress and singer
*
January 16
** Anastasia Grishina, Russian artistic gymnast
** Jennie (singer), Jennie, South Korean singer and rapper
* January 17 – Nile Wilson, British artistic gymnast
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender ...
– Taylor Bennett (rapper), Taylor Bennett, American rapper
*
January 21
Events Pre-1600
* 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
*1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Co ...
– Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
*
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
* 1438 – The ...
– Patrik Schick, Czech footballer
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
*1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...
– Joel Courtney, American actor
February

* February 1 – Ahmad Abughaush, Jordanian taekwondo athlete
* February 2 – Harry Winks, English footballer
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
*AD 62, 62 – AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
*1576 – Henry IV of France, Henry of Navarre :wikt:abjure, abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Re ...
– Zeng Siqi, Chinese artistic gymnast
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nda ...
** Aaron Ekblad, Canadian ice hockey player
** Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
*1539 – The first recorded race is held ...
** Jimmy Bennett, American actor
** Kelli Berglund, American actress
** Chungha (singer), Chungha, South Korean singer and dancer
* February 11 – Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer
* February 13 – Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Indonesian badminton player
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Lo ...
** Lucas Hernandez, French footballer
** Viktor Kovalenko (footballer), Viktor Kovalenko, Ukrainian footballer
*
February 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
* 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons ...
– Sasha Pieterse, South African-born American actress
* February 19 – Ashnikko, American singer and rapper
* February 20 – Mabel (singer), Mabel, English singer
* February 21
** Noah Rubin (tennis), Noah Rubin, American tennis player
** Sophie Turner, English actress
* February 23 – D'Angelo Russell, American basketball player
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
*138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
*13 ...
– Emel Dereli, Turkish shot putter
* February 28 – Shi Yuqi, Chinese badminton player
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian and ...
– Ye Shiwen, Chinese swimmer
* March 5 – Emmanuel Mudiay, Congolese professional basketball player
** Michael Evans Behling, American actor
*
March 6
Events Pre-1600
*12 BCE – The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
* 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
* 845 ...
** Christian Coleman, American sprinter
** Timo Werner, German footballer
** Yan Han (figure skater), Yan Han, Chinese figure skater
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
*1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
* 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
*1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bo ...
– Emil Imre, Hungarian short track speed skater
*
March 9
Events Pre-1600
* 141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
* 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
*1226 &nda ...
– Giorgio Minisini, Italian synchronized swimmer
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
*1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– Janai Haupapa, Canadian rugby league player
*
March 23
Events Pre-1600
*1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
*1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last rel ...
– Alexander Albon, Thai racing driver
*
March 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
*1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate ...
** Valentino Lazaro, Austrian footballer
** Myles Turner, American basketball player
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is ...
– Kathryn Bernardo, Filipina actress
* March 27 – Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, Italian-American actress
* March 28
** Benjamin Pavard, French footballer
** Xie Siyi, Chinese diver
* March 31 – Kira Hagi, Romanian actress
April

* April 2
** Polina Agafonova, Russian figure skater
** Matheus Santana, Brazilian swimmer
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
...
– Sarah Jeffery, Canadian actress
* April 4 – Austin Mahone, American singer-songwriter and actor
*
April 9
Events Pre-1600
* 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, su ...
– Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian footballer
* April 10
** Andreas Christensen, Danish footballer
** Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australian tennis player
** Loïc Nottet, Belgian singer
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
*1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
* 1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Fer ...
** Dele Alli, English footballer
** Summer Walker, American singer
* April 12 – Polina Korobeynikova, Russian figure skater
* April 14 – Abigail Breslin, American actress
*
April 16 – Anya Taylor-Joy, actress
* April 17 – Dee Dee Davis, American actress
* April 22 – Wendy Sulca, Peruvian singer
* April 23 – Álex Márquez, Spanish motorcycle racer
*
April 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
*1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy ...
– Ashleigh Barty, Australian tennis player
* April 25
** Mack Horton, Australian swimmer
** Allisyn Ashley Arm, American actress
* April 27
** Tejan Koroma, American Football Player
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ov ...
– Tony Revolori, American actor
* April 29 – Katherine Langford, Australian actress
May

* May 2 – Julian Brandt, German footballer
* May 3 – Alex Iwobi, Nigerian footballer
* May 4
** Arielle Gold, American snowboarder
** Pelayo Roza, Spanish sprint canoeist.
* May 8 – 6ix9ine, American rapper
*
May 10
Events Pre-1600
* 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.
*1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of E ...
– Tyus Jones, American basketball player
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across th ...
– Andrés Cubas, Argentinian footballer
* May 14
** Martin Garrix, Dutch DJ and producer
** Pokimane, Imane Anys, Canadian Twitch streamer
* May 15 – Birdy (singer), Birdy, English singer and songwriter
*
May 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
*1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
*1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore F ...
– Ryan Ochoa, American actor and musician
* May 19 – Lakshmi Menon (actress), Lakshmi Menon, Indian film actress
*
May 18 – Yuki Kadono, Japanese snowboarder
*
May 23
Events Pre-1600
*1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.
*1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
*1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII ...
– Katharina Althaus, German ski jumper
*
May 30
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres ...
** Aleksandr Golovin (footballer), Aleksandr Golovin, Russian footballer
** Lucki, American rapper
* May 31 – Normani, American singer
June

*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
*1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king o ...
– Tom Holland, English actor
* June 3 – Han Tianyu, Chinese short track speed skater
* June 7 – Christian McCaffrey, American football player
* June 10 – Wen Junhui, Chinese singer and actor
* June 12
**Annalisa Cochrane, American actress
**Davinson Sánchez, Colombian footballer
* June 13
** Kingsley Coman, French footballer
** Kodi Smit-McPhee, Australian actor
*
June 15
Events Pre-1600
* 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
* 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
* 923 – Battle of Soi ...
– Aurora (singer), Aurora, Norwegian singer
* June 16 – Lily Zhang, American table tennis player
* June 17 – Godfred Donsah, Ghanese footballer
* June 18 – Alen Halilović, Croatian footballer
* June 19 – Larisa Iordache, Romanian artistic gymnast
* June 22
** Hugo Calderano, Brazilian table tennis player
** Kong Sang-jeong, South Korean short track speed skater
* June 24 – Harris Dickinson, English actor, writer, and director
* June 27 – Lauren Jauregui, American singer
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
*1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
*1461 – Ed ...
** Milot Rashica, Kosovar footballer
** Donna Vekić, Croatian tennis player
July

*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– Adelina Sotnikova, Russian figure skater
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolu ...
– Kendji Girac, French singer
*
July 5 – Risa Shōji, Japanese figure skater
* July 7 – Ivan Ljubic, Austrian footballer
* July 10 – Moon Ga-young, South Korean actress
*
July 11
Events Pre-1600
* 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter's Basilica and put to death.
* 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, ...
** Alessia Cara, Canadian singer-songwriter
** Andrija Živković, Serbian footballer
* July 18 – Yung Lean, Swedish rapper and record producer
* July 20 – Ben Simmons, Australian basketball player
August

*
August 1
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.
*AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt und ...
** Arisa Higashino, Japanese badminton player
** Cymphonique Miller, American actress and singer
* August 2 – Simone Manuel, American swimmer
* August 5
** Francesca Deagostini, Italian artistic gymnast
** Mai Murakami, Japanese artistic gymnast
* August 10 – Evan Evagora, Australian actor
* August 12 – Arthur Melo, Arthur, Brazilian footballer
*
August 14
Events Pre-1600
* 74 BC – A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan. The articles, enumerating t ...
– Brianna Hildebrand, American actress
*
August 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.
* 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Ha ...
– Caeleb Dressel, American swimmer
* August 19
** Almoez Ali, Sudanese-Qatari footballer
** Laura Tesoro, Belgian singer and actress
* August 20 – Axell Hodges, American motocross competitor
* August 24 – Kenzō Shirai, Japanese gymnast
* August 27
** Femke Van den Driessche, Belgian cyclist found guilty of mechanical doping
** Ebru Topçu, Turkish footballer
*
August 28
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
* 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his wa ...
– Kim Se-jeong, South Korean singer and actress
* August 30
** Gabriel Barbosa, Brazilian footballer
** Chen Dequan, Chinese short track speed skater
September

* September 1 – Zendaya, American actress and singer
*
September 3
Events Pre-1600
* 36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
* 301
__NOTOC__
Year 301 (Ro ...
– Joy (singer), Joy, South Korean singer and actress
*
September 5
Events Pre-1600
* 917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu.
* 1367 – Swa Saw Ke becomes king of Ava
*1590 – Alexander Farnese's army forces Hen ...
– Sigrid (singer), Sigrid, Norwegian singer
* September 9 – Jaïro Riedewald, Dutch footballer
* September 12 – Colin Ford, American actor
*
September 13
Events Pre-1600
*585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.
* 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...
** Playboi Carti, American rapper
** Lili Reinhart, American actress
September 16 – Baka Prase, Serbian YouTuber, rapper, gamer, and entertainer
* September 17
** Duje Ćaleta-Car, Croatian footballer
** Ella Purnell, English actress
** Esteban Ocon, French Formula 1 Driver
* September 23
** Lee Hi, South Korean singer-songwriter
** Evgeny Rylov, Russian swimmer
* September 25 – Mie Nielsen, Danish swimmer
*
September 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
*1331 – The Battle of Płowce is fought, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teuto ...
– Maxwel Cornet, French-Ivorian footballer
* September 28 – Michael Ronda, Mexican actor and singer
October

* October 1
** Shenseea, Jamaican Singer
* October 3 – Kelechi Iheanacho, Nigerian footballer
* October 4 – Ella Balinska, English actress
* October 5 – Sevn Alias, Dutch rapper
* October 7 – Lewis Capaldi, Scottish singer-songwriter
* October 8 – Sara Takanashi, Japanese ski jumper
* October 9
** Jacob Batalon, American-Filipino actor
** Bella Hadid, American model
* October 10 – Oscar Zia, Swedish singer and songwriter
* October 13
** Joshua Wong, Hong Kong student activist and politician
** Đỗ Mỹ Linh, Vietnamese model
* October 15 – Zelo, Korean singer
* October 20 – Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Indonesian badminton player
* October 24
** Jaylen Brown, American basketball player
** Kyla Ross, American gymnast
* October 28 – Lee June-hyoung, South Korean figure skater
* October 30
** Devin Booker, American basketball player
** Mizuki Fukumura, Japanese singer
November

* November 1
** Sean Gelael, Indonesian racing driver
** Lil Peep, American rapper (d. 2017)
**Daniela Melchior, Portuguese actress
** Jeongyeon, South Korean singer
* November 4 – Michael Christian Martinez, Filipino figure skater
* November 7
** André Horta, Portuguese footballer
** Lorde, New Zealand singer-songwriter
* November 9
** Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên, Vietnamese swimmer
** Momo Hirai, Japanese singer and dancer
* November 11
** Adam Ounas, French-born Algerian footballer
** Tye Sheridan, American actor
* November 14 – Borna Ćorić, Croatian tennis player
* November 16 – Brendan Murray, Irish singer
* November 17 – Ruth Jebet, Bahraini long-distance runner
* November 18
** Akram Afif, Qatari footballer
** Noah Ringer, American actor
** Sorn (singer), Sorn, South Korean based singer
* November 19 – Liliána Szilágyi, Hungarian swimmer
* November 20 – Denis Zakaria, Swiss footballer
* November 22
** Hailey Baldwin, American model and socialite
** JuJu Smith-Schuster, American football player
* November 23
** James Maddison, English footballer
** Anna Yanovskaya, Russian ice dancer
* November 26 – Louane (singer), Louane Emera, French singer and actress
* November 27 – Felix Kashweka, Zambian journalist and publicist
* November 29 – Gonçalo Guedes, Portuguese footballer
December

* December 1 – Pradyumn Karthic, the indian chad was born.
* December 4 – Daria Svatkovskaya, Russian artistic gymnast
* December 6 – Stefanie Scott, American actress and singer
* December 10
** Joe Burrow, American football player
** Kang Daniel, South Korean singer
* December 11
** Eliza McCartney, New Zealand track and field athlete
** Hailee Steinfeld, American actress, model and singer
** Jack Griffo, American actor
* December 12
** Lucas Hedges, American actor
** Oliver Askew, American racing driver
** Rajinikanth, Indian Actor
* December 14 – Li Zijun, Chinese figure skater
* December 15 – Oleksandr Zinchenko (footballer), Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukrainian footballer
* December 16 – Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer
* December 17 – Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Russian figure skater
* December 19 – Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer
* December 21 – Kaitlyn Dever, American actress
* December 28 – Alfred Kipketer, Kenyan middle-distance runner
* December 29
** Dylan Minnette, American actor, singer and musician
** Sana (singer), Sana, Japanese singer
* December 30
** Stephanie Del Valle, Puerto Rican musician, model and beauty queen
** Zack Baun, American Football Player
Deaths
January

* January 1 – Arleigh Burke, American naval officer (b. 1901)
* January 5 – Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian shaheed (b. 1966)
* January 7
** Károly Grósz, 51st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1930)
** Tarō Okamoto, Japanese artist (b. 1911)
*
January 8 – François Mitterrand, French politician, 21st President of France (b. 1916)
* January 15
** Les Baxter, American musician and composer (b. 1922)
** Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho, Moshoeshoe II, King of Lesotho (b. 1938)
* January 17 – Barbara Jordan, American lawyer, educator, politician and civil rights activist (b. 1936)
* January 18
** Leonor Fini, Argentine artist (b. 1908)
** Endel Puusepp, Estonian pilot (b. 1909)
** N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, producer, director, editor and politician (b. 1923)
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender ...
– Don Simpson, American film producer (b. 1943)
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
*1156 &nda ...
– Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
* January 25 – Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (b. 1960)
*
January 28
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany.
* 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession ...
** Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born American Nobel poet (b. 1940)
** Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)
February

* February 2 – Gene Kelly, American actor and dancer (b. 1912)
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
*1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
* 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– Audrey Meadows, American actress (b. 1922)
* February 4 – Alfredo Nobre da Costa, 106th Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1923)
*
February 6 – Guy Madison, American actor (b. 1922)
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nda ...
– Boris Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (b. 1925)
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
*1539 – The first recorded race is held ...
– Adolf Galland, German general (b. 1912)
* February 11
** Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)
** Bob Shaw, Irish science fiction writer (b. 1931)
* February 12 – Ryōtarō Shiba, Japanese novelist (b. 1923)
* February 13 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Lo ...
** Eva Hart, British Titanic survivor (b. 1905)
** Bob Paisley, English football manager (b. 1919)
* February 16 – Pat Brown, American politician (b. 1905)
* February 20
** Solomon Asch, Polish-American psychologist (b. 1907)
** Audrey Munson, American model and actress (b. 1891)
** Toru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
* February 21 – Morton Gould, American musician and composer (b. 1913)
* February 23
** William Bonin, American serial killer (b. 1947)
** Helmut Schön, German football player and manager (b. 1915)
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
*138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
*13 ...
– Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian activist and actor (b. 1940)
* February 26 – Mieczysław Weinberg, Polish composer (b. 1919)
* February 27 – Sarah Palfrey Cooke, American tennis player (b. 1912)
March

*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cu ...
** Jacobo Majluta Azar, 47th President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1934)
** Lyle Talbot, American actor (b. 1902)
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
*1575 & ...
** Marguerite Duras, French author and director (b. 1914)
** John Krol, American cardinal (b. 1910)
* March 4 – Minnie Pearl, American comedian (b. 1912)
* March 5
** Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, 5th President of Bangladesh (b. 1918)
** Whit Bissell, American actor (b. 1909)
*
March 9
Events Pre-1600
* 141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
* 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
*1226 &nda ...
– George Burns, American comedian and actor (b. 1896)
* March 10 – Ross Hunter, American film producer (b. 1920)
* March 11 – Vince Edwards, American actor (b. 1928)
* March 12 – Gyula Kállai, 48th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1910)
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
* 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
* 1591 – At the Battle of ...
** Lucio Fulci, Italian film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1927)
** Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (b. 1941)
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
*45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age o ...
– René Clément, French film director (b. 1913)
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
*1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ar ...
– Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer (b. 1911)
* March 19
** Virginia Henderson, American nurse and theorist (b. 1897)
** Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician (b. 1933)
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
*106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
– Robert F. Overmyer, American astronaut (b. 1936)
*
March 25
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
* 708 – Pope Constantine becomes the 88th pope. He would be the last pope to visi ...
– Lola Beltrán, Mexican singer, actress, and television presenter (b. 1932)
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is ...
** Edmund Muskie, American politician (b. 1914)
** David Packard, American engineer (b. 1912)
* March 31 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American musician (b. 1958)
April

*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
*1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
*1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
...
–
Ron Brown
Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairman of the Democratic National Co ...
, American politician (b. 1941)
* April 4 – Barney Ewell, American athlete (b. 1918)
*
April 6
Events Pre–1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.
* 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
* ...
– Greer Garson, British-American actress (b. 1904)
* April 8 – Ben Johnson (actor), Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (b. 1918)
*
April 13
Events Pre-1600
*1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
1601–1900
*1612 – In one of the epic samurai ...
– James Burke (gangster), James Burke, Irish-American gangster (b. 1931)
*
April 16 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (b. 1917)
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
*1428 – Peace of Ferrara be ...
– Bernard Edwards, American bass player (b. 1952)
* April 20 – Christopher Robin Milne, English author and bookseller (b. 1920)
*
April 21 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen politician and President of Ichkeria (b. 1944)
* April 23 – P. L. Travers, British actress, journalist, novelist and writer (b. 1899)
* April 25 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer (b. 1920)
*
April 26 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ov ...
– Siti Hartinah, 2nd First Lady of Indonesia (b. 1923)
May

* May 1 – David M. Kennedy (politician), David M. Kennedy, American politician, businessman (b. 1905)
* May 2 – Emile Habibi, Palestinian Israeli writer and politician (b. 1922)
* May 3 – Jack Weston, American actor (b. 1924)
* May 6 – Leo Joseph Suenens, Belgian cardinal (b. 1904)
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across th ...
**Nnamdi Azikiwe, 1st President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
** Scott Fischer, American mountaineer (b. 1955)
** Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer (b. 1961)
**Andy Harris (mountain guide), Andrew Harris, New Zealand mountaineer (b. 1964)
**1996 Mount Everest disaster, Doug Hansen, American mountaineer (b. 1949)
**Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (b. 1949)
**1996 Mount Everest disaster, Tsewang Samanla, Indo-Tibetan Border police officer and mountaineer (b. 1957)
**1996 Mount Everest disaster, Tsewang Paljor, Indo-Tibetan Border police officer and mountaineer (b. 1968)
**1996 Mount Everest disaster, Dorje Morup, Indo-Tibetan Border police officer and mountaineer (b. 1948)
**Ademir de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1922)
*
May 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
*1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
*1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore F ...
– Johnny "Guitar" Watson, American singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1935)
* May 19 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (b. 1917)
* May 20 – Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
*
May 23
Events Pre-1600
*1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.
*1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
*1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII ...
– Sim Iness, American Olympic athlete (b. 1930)
* May 24
** John Abbott (actor), John Abbott, English actor (b. 1905)
** Jacob Druckman, American composer (b. 1928)
* May 25 – Bradley Nowell, American musician (b. 1968)
* May 29 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American dancer and actress (b. 1919)
* May 31 – Timothy Leary, American writer and social activist (b. 1920)
June

*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
*1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king o ...
– Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, 6th President of India (b. 1913)
* June 2
** John Alton, American cinematographer (b. 1901)
** Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (b. 1928)
* June 3 – Peter Glenville, English film director (b. 1913)
*
June 6
** Kusuo Kitamura, Japanese Olympic swimmer (b. 1917)
** George Davis Snell, American Nobel geneticist (b. 1903)
* June 10 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (b. 1914)
*
June 11
Events Pre-1600
* 173 – Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty ( 171). In a violent thunderstorm emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called "miracle ...
– Brigitte Helm, German actress (b. 1908)
*
June 15
Events Pre-1600
* 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
* 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
* 923 – Battle of Soi ...
– Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
* June 19
** Hillevi Rombin, Swedish actress and beauty queen (b. 1933)
** Edvin Wide, Swedish middle- and long-distance runner (b. 1896)
* June 23
** Ray Lindwall, Australian cricketer (b. 1921)
**
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, wh ...
,
Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
* June 26 – Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (b. 1958)
* June 27 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (b. 1909)
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
*1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
*1461 – Ed ...
– Kwan Tak-hing, Hong Kong actor (b. 1905)
July

*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– Margaux Hemingway, American fashion model and actress (b. 1954)
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolu ...
– Raaj Kumar, Indian film actor (b. 1926)
* July 9
** Eno Raud, Estonian writer (b. 1928)
** Sergey Kuryokhin, Russian pianist, composer, improvisor, performance artist and actor (b. 1954)
* July 13 – Pandro S. Berman, American film producer (b. 1905)
* July 15 – Dana Hill, American actress (b. 1964)
*
July 17
Events Pre-1600
* 180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
*1048 – Damasu ...
– Paul Touvier, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1915)
* July 20 – František Plánička, Czech footballer (b. 1904)
*
July 21
** Luana Anders, American actress (b. 1938)
** Herb Edelman, American actor (b. 1933)
* July 22 – Jessica Mitford, British-American author, journalist and political campaigner (b. 1917)
* July 23 – Jean Muir (actress), Jean Muir, American actress (b. 1911)
*
July 27 – Jane Drew, English architect (b. 1911)
* July 28 – Roger Tory Peterson, American naturalist and artist (b. 1908)
* July 30 – Claudette Colbert, American actress (b. 1903)
August

*
August 1
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.
*AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt und ...
** Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somali military commander and politician (b. 1934)
** Frida Boccara, French singer (b. 1940)
** Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish-Swiss Nobel chemist (b. 1897)
* August 2
** Michel Debré, 99th Prime Minister of France (b. 1912)
** Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1917)
*
August 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
*1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Ques ...
– Hernán Siles Zuazo, 46th President of Bolivia (b. 1914)
* August 8 – Nevill Francis Mott, English Nobel physicist (b. 1905)
* August 11
** Rafael Kubelík, Czech-born Swiss conductor (b. 1914)
** Baba Vanga, Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant and herbalist (b. 1911)
* August 12 – Viktor Hambardzumyan, Armenian scientist (b. 1908)
*
August 13
** António de Spínola, 14th President of Portugal (b. 1910)
** David Tudor, American pianist and composer (b. 1926)
*
August 26 – Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, 37th President of Argentina (b. 1918)
* August 27 – Greg Morris, American actor (b. 1933)
* August 30 – Christine Pascal, French actress, director and screenwriter (b. 1953)
September

* September 1 – Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (b. 1909)
* September 7 – Bibi Besch, American actress (b. 1942)
* September 9
** Ruggero Mastroianni, Italian film editor (b. 1929)
** Bill Monroe, American musician (b. 1911)
*
September 10
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde.
*1419 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France.
*1509 – An earthq ...
– Joanne Dru, American actress (b. 1922)
* September 12 – Ernesto Geisel, Brazilian general, 29th President of Brazil (b. 1907)
*
September 13
Events Pre-1600
*585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.
* 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...
– Tupac Shakur, American rapper (b. 1971)
* September 14 – Juliet Prowse, American dancer and actress (b. 1936)
* September 16
** McGeorge Bundy, American academic (b. 1919)
** Gene Nelson, American dancer and actor (b. 1920)
* September 17 – Spiro Agnew, 39th Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
* September 18 – Annabella (actress), Annabella, French actress (b. 1907)
*
September 20
**
Murtaza Bhutto
Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto (; 18 September 1954 – 20 September 1996) was a Pakistani politician and leader of al-Zulfiqar, a Pakistani left-wing militant organization. The son of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, he ear ...
, Pakistani politician (b. 1954)
** Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1913)
** Max Manus, Norwegian resistance fighter (b. 1914)
*
September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
*1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of the ...
** Mohamed Ben Ahmed Abdelghani, 1st Prime Minister of Algeria (b. 1927)
** Dorothy Lamour, American actress (b. 1914)
*
September 24 – Zeki Müren, Turkish singer, composer, songwriter, actor and poet (b. 1931)
* September 26
** Nicu Ceaușescu, Romanian politician (b. 1951)
** Pavel Sudoplatov, Soviet spy (b. 1907)
** Geoffrey Wilkinson, English Nobel chemist (b. 1921)
*
September 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
*1331 – The Battle of Płowce is fought, between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teuto ...
–
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (Pashto/ prs, محمد نجیبالله احمدزی, ; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Par ...
, President of Afghanistan (b. 1947)
*
September 29 – Shūsaku Endō, Japanese author (b. 1923)
October

* October 4 – Silvio Piola, Italian footballer (b. 1913)
* October 5 – Seymour Cray, American computer scientist (b. 1925)
* October 11
** Renato Russo, Brazilian singer (b. 1960)
** William Vickrey, Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
* October 12
** René Lacoste, French tennis player (b. 1904)
** Roger Lapébie, French racing cyclist (b. 1911)
* October 13 – Beryl Reid, British actress (b. 1919)
* October 19 – Shamsuddin Qasemi, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and politician (b. 1935)
* October 24 – Artur Axmann, German Nazi leader (b. 1913)
* October 31 – Marcel Carné, French film director (b. 1909)
November

* November 1 – J. R. Jayewardene, 2nd President of Sri Lanka (b. 1906)
* November 2 – Eva Cassidy, American vocalist (b. 1963)
* November 3
** Jean-Bédel Bokassa, 2nd President of the Central African Republic and Emperor of Central Africa (b. 1921)
** Abdullah Çatlı, Turkish nationalist (b. 1956)
* November 6 – Tommy Lawton, English footballer and manager (b. 1919)
* November 14
** Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (b. 1928)
** Virginia Cherrill, American actress (b. 1908)
* November 15 – Alger Hiss, American diplomat (b. 1904)
* November 18 – Zinovy Gerdt, Russian actor (b. 1916)
* November 21 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani Nobel physicist (b. 1926)
* November 22 – María Casares, French-Spanish actress (b. 1922)
* November 26 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer (b. 1914)
* November 27 – Gertrude Blanch, American mathematician (b. 1897)
* November 28 – Don McNeill (tennis), Don McNeill, American tennis player (b. 1918)
* November 30 – Tiny Tim (musician), Tiny Tim, American musician (b. 1932)
December

* December 3 – Babrak Karmal, President of Afghanistan (b. 1929)
* December 7 – José Donoso, Chilean writer (b. 1924)
* December 9 – Mary Leakey, British archaeologist (b. 1913)
* December 10 – Faron Young, American singer (b. 1932)
* December 11 – Willie Rushton, English comedian, actor and cartoonist (b. 1937)
* December 13 – Cao Yu, Chinese playwright (b. 1910)
* December 16 – Quentin Bell, English biographer and art historian (b. 1910)
** Laurens van der Post, South African author (b. 1906)
* December 17 – Stanko Todorov, Bulgarian communist politician (b. 1920)
* December 18 – Irving Caesar, American lyricist (b. 1895)
* December 19 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (b. 1924)
* December 20
** Amata Kabua, 1st President of the Marshall Islands (b. 1928)
** Carl Sagan, American astronomer (b. 1934)
* December 30
** Lew Ayres, American actor (b. 1908)
** Jack Nance, American actor (b. 1943)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – David M. Lee, Douglas D. Osheroff, Robert Coleman Richardson, Robert C. Richardson
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Robert Curl, Sir Harold Kroto, Richard Smalley
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Peter C. Doherty, Rolf M. Zinkernagel
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Wisława Szymborska
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta
* Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – James Mirrlees, William Vickrey
Right Livelihood Award
* Herman Daly, The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad and George Vithoulkas
References
1996 Year in Review– CNN
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996
1996,
Leap years in the Gregorian calendar