1996

Events

1. 13 March

   Gunman kills 16 children and their teacher at Dunblane

   Thomas Hamilton opened fire in the gym of Dunblane Primary School in Scotland before killing himself. Public campaigning led to a near-total ban on private handgun ownership in Britain.

   Scotland
2. 

   17 July

   TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island

   A Boeing 747 bound for Paris exploded minutes after take-off from New York, killing all 230 on board. Investigators concluded that a spark had ignited fuel vapour in the centre wing tank.

   New YorkParis

3. 27 July

   Bomb explodes in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park

   A pipe bomb exploded during a concert at the Atlanta Olympics, killing one woman and injuring 111. Security guard Richard Jewell was wrongly suspected; Eric Rudolph later confessed.

4. 13 September

   Tupac Shakur dies after a drive-by shooting

   Rapper Tupac Shakur died in Las Vegas aged 25, six days after being shot. One of hip-hop's best-selling and most influential artists, his murder long went unsolved.

5. 24 September

   The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty opens for signature

   The CTBT, banning all nuclear explosions, opened for signature at the UN and was signed first by President Clinton. It has not entered into force, as key states have not ratified it.

In the profiles

• Republic of GuatemalaPeace accords end thirty-six years of internal armed conflict
• New ZealandFirst election under mixed-member proportional representation
• Republic of ChinaFirst direct presidential election, won by Lee Teng-hui
• Republic of South AfricaA new constitution with a Bill of Rights is adopted

Wars and longer events

• Nepalese Civil WarBegan · 1996–2006
• Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology ProjectBegan · 1996–2000
• Third Taiwan Strait CrisisEnded · 1995–1996

Died in 1996 16

• Hernán Siles Zuazo1914–1996
• Mohammad Najibullah1947–1996
• Moshoeshoe II1938–1996
• Muhammad al-Badr1926–1996
• Andreas Papandreou1919–1996
• Babrak Karmal1929–1996
• Ernesto Geisel1907–1996
• François Mitterrand1916–1996
• J. R. Jayewardene1906–1996
• Nguyen Huu Tho1910–1996
• Yeshwantrao Ghorpade1908–1996
• Julio César Méndez Montenegro1915–1996
• Tito Okello1914–1996
• Nnamdi Azikiwe1904–1996
• Petro Shelest1908–1996
• Seton Lloyd1902–1996

Works 1

• Basic Statute of OmanWork / monument

States founded 1

• Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996-2001) 1996 CE – 2001 CE