- Jan 1 After 27 years, Betty Rubble debuts as a Flintstone vitamin
- Jan 1 Curacao gains limited form of self rule (Status Aparte)
- Jan 2 The US deploys troops in Northern Bosnia with the intention of maintaining order and peace between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims
- Jan 3 1st clamshell flip mobile phone, the Motorola StarTAC, goes on sale. Eventually 60 million are sold.
- Jan 5 Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone
- Jan 5 Muralitharan no-balled for throwing in ODI v WI at the Gabba
- Jan 6 Record £42 million ($65.2 million) British lottery won by 3 people (2-3-4-13-42-44)
- Jan 7 16th United Negro College Fund raises $12,600,000
- Jan 8 Blizzard buries eastern US causing at least 50 deaths
- Jan 10 Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
- Jan 10 King Hussein of Jordan visits Israel
- Jan 11 Haiti becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
- Jan 11 Space Shuttle STS 72 (Endeavour 10), launches into space
- Jan 12 Russian troops arrived in Bosnia (joint operation with US)
- Jan 17 Iraq agrees to talks concerning a UN plan to allow for the Iraqi sale of $1 billion of oil; proceeds from the sale would be used for humanitarian purposes
- Jan 17 The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
- Jan 20 WPAT FM NYC radio station switches to English-Spanish format
- Jan 21 US male Figure Skating championship won by Rudy Galindo
- Jan 23 Chris Cairns scores 120, 96 balls, 10x4, 9x6 in Test NZ v Zimbabwe
- Jan 23 The first version of the Java programming language released
- Jan 27 15 day old conjoined twins separated: Sarah Morales survives, Sarahi dies
- Jan 27 Catherine Roskam becomes the 1st NY female Episcopal bishop
- Jan 27 Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
- Jan 27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Jan 27 Germany celebrates its 1st Holocaust Remembrance Day
- Jan 27 Shiv Chanderpaul scores 303* for Guyana v Jamaica at Kingston
Event of Interest
Jan 29 France will no longer test nuclear weapons, its president Jacques Chirac says, following international outcry over tests in the Pacific
- Jan 30 Commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet Scott Redd states that Iran test-fired a new anti-ship missile near the Strait of Hormuz
- Jan 30 Gino Gallagher, the suspected leader of the Irish National Liberation Army, is killed while waiting in line for his unemployment benefit.
- Jan 31 50 people die and many more injured in a suicide bombing in Sri Lanka by separatist Tamil Tigers
- Feb 1 The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
- Feb 5 British supermarket chains stock genetically modified tomato puree - the first GM food to be sold in the country
- Feb 6 Heidi Fleiss scheduled to begin her 7 year jail sentence
- Feb 8 The massive Internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place
- Feb 8 The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
- Feb 9 The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf.
- Feb 9 WYNY-FM in NYC changes calls to WKTU-FM
- Feb 10 A bomb explodes in Docklands area of London, ending the 17-month ceasefire; James McArdle is eventually found guilty and jailed for 25 years
- Feb 13 Howard Stern announces he will be making the film "Private Parts"
- Feb 15 Mortar attack on the US Embassy in Athens, Greece
- Feb 16 Gary Kirsten scores 188* for South Africa v UAE at Rawalpindi
- Feb 19 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in York PA on WQXA 105.7 FM
- Feb 21 Soyuz TM-23, launched into orbit
- Feb 22 STS 75 (Columbia 19), launches into orbit
- Feb 23 Mark Waugh scores 130 in World Cup vs Kenya, 207 w/brother Steve
- Feb 23 Rajindra Dhanraj takes 9-97 for Trinidad against Leeward Islands
- Feb 24 Cuba downs 2 US planes
- Feb 24 The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church.
- Feb 25 Rajindra Dhanraj takes 16-167 in match Trinidad v Leeward Is
- Feb 27 Mark Waugh scores 126 in World Cup against India
- Feb 29 Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-23 returning from Mir space station
- Feb 29 Serb forces withdraw from Sarajevo, ending the siege after 1,425 days, the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare
- Mar 1 New toll-free 888 area code introduced in USA
- Mar 1 Plans approved allowing traffic cameras High Harrington & Shap England
- Mar 3 Auckland beat Wellington by 9 wickets to win Shell Trophy Final
- Mar 7 1st surface photos of Pluto (photographed by Hubble Space Telescope)
- Mar 7 British Steel in Workington wins Lithuanian multi-million pound order
- Mar 7 The first democratically elected Palestinian parliament formed
- Mar 9 NASA space shuttle STS-75 (Columbia 19) lands
- Mar 10 NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani visits Israel
- Mar 11 Chris Harris scores 130 in losing NZ side v Australia, World Cup
- Mar 11 John Winston Howard becomes the 25th Prime Minister of Australia. His term in office is the second longest in Australian history, ending December 3, 2007.
- Mar 11 Mark Waugh scores 110 v NZ for his third century of the World Cup
- Mar 11 The EU Database Directive is passed
- Mar 12 Leeward Islands beat Trinidad by 73 runs to win Red Stripe Trophy
- Mar 13 At Dunblane Primary School, Scotland, 16 children and 1 teacher are shot dead by Thomas Hamilton who then commits suicide. Results in handguns being banned in the UK.
- Mar 13 Sri Lanka beat India in World Cup semi as riots stop play
- Mar 14 Crufts show at NEC Birmingham, (1995 winner, Joshua, an Irish setter)
- Mar 18 A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162.
- Mar 20 Erik & Lyle Menendez found guilty of killing their parents
- Mar 20 UK admits humans can catch CJD (Mad Cow Disease)
- Mar 22 Cheryl Depew of Florida crowned 13th Miss Hawaiian Tropic International
- Mar 22 STS 76 (Atlantis 16), launches into orbit
- Mar 23 Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
- Mar 24 MTA raises NYC bridge tolls to $3.50 each way
- Mar 25 Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) approaches within 0.1018 AUs of Earth
- Mar 25 Freedom Shoemakers on Maryport's Solway Estate closes
- Mar 25 Ice Pairs Championship at Edmonton won by Eltsova & Bushkov (RUS)
- Mar 25 The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of "mad cow disease" (BSE).
- Mar 25 US issues newly-redesigned $100 bill
- Mar 26 The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan for Russia
Event of Interest
Mar 30 Prince Edward & girl-friend Sophie Rhys-Jones visit Greystoke Castle
- Mar 31 Radio Canada International's final shortwave broadcast
- Mar 31 Space Shuttle STS 76 (Atlantis 16), lands
- Apr 1 The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created.
- Apr 4 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Austin, Texas on KJFK 98.9 FM
- Apr 5 John Bobbitt is put under house arrest in Las Vegas for 120 days
- Apr 10 Fastest wind speed ever recorded (not a tornado) 408 km/h (220 kn; 253 mph; 113 m/s) during tropical cyclone Olivia on Barrow Island, Australia
- Apr 18 In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces accidentally shell the UN compound at Quana.
- Apr 19 South Africa defeat Pakistan to win the Pepsi Cup in Sharjah
- Apr 21 Matabeleland beat Mashonaland Country Dist to win Logan Cup
- Apr 21 Wayne James scores 99 & 99 & ct 11 stp 2 in Logan Cup Final
- Apr 23 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Reno NV on KRZQ 96.5 FM
- Apr 23 Sotherby begins 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
- Apr 23 US docuseries "Forensic Files" (Medical Detectives) premieres on TLC Network
- Apr 24 The UN and Iraq end a third round of negotiations over Iraq's possible sale of $1 billion of oil for 90 days for a 180-day trial period
- Apr 26 Shaun Pollock takes 4 wkts in 4 balls for Warwickshire in B&H
- Apr 26 Sotherby ends 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
- Apr 27 Brunswick World Tournament of Champions won by Dave D'Entremont
- Apr 28 In Australia's worst massacre in modern history, Martin Bryant shoots and kills 35 in Port Arthur, Tasmania. Leads to a compulsory gun buy back program and major changes to gun control laws.
- Apr 29 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Fresno, California on KFRR 104.1 FM
- Apr 30 Dutch Itallian Beppo-SAX launches from Cape Canaveral
- Apr 30 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Grand Rapids MI on WKLQ 94.5 FM
Event of Interest
Apr 30 US President Clinton approves the sale of $227 million of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; US gas prices are at their highest levels in 5 years
- May 3 Martin Moxon & Michael Vaughan make 362 1st wkt Yorks v Glam
- May 4 Greg Pavlik one-hits Tigers making the Rangers 1st AL team to pitch back-to-back one-hitters since the Washington Senators in 1917
- May 6 Guatemala's leftist guerrillas sign key accord with government of President Alvaro Arzu aimed at ending 35 years of civil war
- May 6 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Hartford, Connecticut on WCCC 106.9 FM
- May 6 The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
- May 8 South Africa's Constitutional Assembly adopts permanent post-apartheid constitution
- May 10 2 US Marine helicopters collided during joint US & British war games
- May 10 Excel Communications, Inc. becomes the youngest company ever to join the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), trading under the symbol (ECI)
- May 11 Valujet DC-9 crashes in Miami, 109 die
- May 13 Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
- May 18 WIBC Bowling Queens won by Lisa Wagner
- May 19 STS 77 (Endeavour 11), launches into orbit
- May 20 UN and Iraq agree to Resolution 986, which provides Iraq with the opportunity to sell $1 billion of oil for 90 days for a 180-day trial period; proceeds from the sale would be used for humanitarian purposes
- May 21 Blackout in many areas of Queens, NY
- May 21 The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas are executed.
- May 23 Fred Norris of the Howard Stern show changes his name legally to Eric
- May 25 Jennifer Maria Holsten, 18, crowned Miss Filipino-American
- May 26 Parliamentary elections in Albania results are disputed, with irregularities and intimidation causing opposition parties to withdraw; pro-Western Democratic party wins over 50% of the vote
Election of Interest
May 28 Pavlo Lazarenko becomes Prime Minister of Ukraine
- May 28 U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James McDougal and Susan McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
Event of Interest
May 29 Space Shuttle STS 77 Endeavour 11), lands
- May 30 69th National Spelling Bee: Wendy Guey wins spelling vivisepulture
- May 31 Mark Van Thillo and Abigail Alling, former biospherian win $100,000 lawsuit against Biospheric Development for Space Biospheres Ventures
- Jun 1 H. D. Deve Gowda becomes Prime Minister of India, serving until April 1997
- Jun 1 Sony does not renew lease on megatron in Times Square
- Jun 2 9th Children's Miracle Network Telethon
- Jun 5 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Memphis, Tennessee, on WMFS 92.9 FM
- Jun 7 Julia and Noah wed on "All My Children"
- Jun 8 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- Jun 8 Lloyd and Titchard complete 358 stand for 4th wkt Lancs v Essex
- Jun 8 Panama becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
- Jun 8 PBA National Championship Won by Butch Soper
Lady Godiva
Jun 8 Revival of the legendary procession of Lady Godiva (Godgifu) naked through Coventry, England
- Jun 10 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Toledo, Ohio, on WBUZ 106.5 FM
- Jun 11 Exxon states that it will begin work on its $15-billion Sakhalin I oil and natural gas development in Russia's Far East
- Jun 12 3 Philadelphia Fed Court judges overturn US indecency ban on internet
- Jun 13 Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents
- Jun 14 Karl Krikken out handled the ball for Derbyshire v Indians
- Jun 15 IRA bomb in Manchester wrecks city centre at 11.17am, injuring 200
- Jun 17 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Syracuse NY on WAQX 95.7 FM
- Jun 17 The Fifteenth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which removes the prohibition on divorce, is signed into law following a vote the previous year
Event of Interest
Jun 18 Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, is indicted on ten criminal counts
- Jun 20 Space Shuttle STS 78 (Columbia 20), launches into space
- Jun 20 The Venezuelan Congress approves deals which allow foreign oil companies to explore and produce oil in Venezuela for the first time since the country's 1975 nationalization of the oil industry
- Jun 25 The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen
- Jun 26 Irish Journalist Veronica Guerin is shot in her car while in traffic in the outskirts of Dublin
- Jun 28 The Constitution of Ukraine is signed into law.
- Jun 29 Andrea Leah Plummer, of Tennessee, crowned 39th America's Junior Miss
- Jun 29 Superman's Action Comic #1 (1938) auctioned at Sotheby at $61,900
- Jun 30 Caroline Frolic (Miss Ontario), crowned Miss Renaissance USA
- Jul 1 WBSI TV replaces WNYC on channel 31 in NYC
- Jul 3 UK House of Commons announces that the Stone of Scone, aka the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish (and subsequently English and British monarchs), will be returned to Scotland after 700 years in Westminster Abbey
- Jul 4 Hot Mail, a free internet E-mail service begins
Event of Interest
Jul 7 Nelson Mandela steps down as President of South Africa
- Jul 7 Space Shuttle STS 78 (Columbia 20), lands
- Jul 9 US Senate approves 90 cent raise to $4.25 minimum wage
- Jul 12 Start of 1st "Super 8's" tournament in Kuala Lumpur
- Jul 13 Cigar wins record 16th straight win, (ties Citation in 1940)
- Jul 15 A Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules carrying the Royal Netherlands Army marching band crashes on landing at Eindhoven Airport
- Jul 15 Southern Mexico hit with 6.5 earthquake
- Jul 17 Paris-bound flight TWA 800, explodes off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board the Boeing 747
- Jul 18 Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Québec's costliest natural disasters ever
- Jul 18 The UN approves an Iraqi aid distribution plan, a major step forward in the direction of allowing Iraq to sell oil under Resolution 986
- Jul 19 Jason Gallian scores 312 in 683 mins for Lancashire v Derbyshire
- Jul 20 In Spain an ETA bomb at an airport kills 35
- Jul 25 Kim LaPlante of Washington state crowned Mrs United States
- Jul 28 Kennewick Man, the remains of a prehistoric man, is discovered near Kennewick, Washington.
- Jul 29 The controversial child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court
- Aug 3 US General William F. Garrison accepts responsibility for outcome of the 1993 raid in Somalia, and retires from military service
- Aug 6 Korean Air Flight 801 crashes in the United States territory of Guam, killing 228 people
- Aug 6 NASA announces that life may have existed on Mars after examining meteorite ALH84001, thought to be from Mars
- Aug 6 US President Bill Clinton signs a new bill imposing sanctions on non-US companies which invest over $40 million a year in the energy sectors of Iran or Libya
- Aug 10 Bob Dole picks Jack Kemp as his Republican VP running mate
- Aug 10 Dare & Go ends Cigars record tying victory streak at 16
- Aug 10 Parlisha Williams (Louisiana) crowned Ms Black USA Metroplex
- Aug 12 "Breakfast on Fox" premieres
- Aug 13 Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0
- Aug 17 Soyuz TM-24, launched into orbit
- Aug 18 Record 6,654 tap at Macy's Tap-o-mania in NYC
- Aug 19 The major South African political parties begin their submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
- Aug 20 India defeat Pakistan in Under-15 World Challenge Final at Lord's
- Aug 21 In Venezuela, a subsidiary of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), Corpoven, signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with U.S.-based ARCO
- Aug 21 Netscape Browser 3.0 is released
- Aug 22 ANC makes its first submission to Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
Declaration of War
Aug 23 Osama bin Laden issues message entitled "A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places"
- Aug 26 US President Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in welfare policy
- Aug 28 Liam Botham takes 5-67 on 1st-class debut Hants v Middlesex
- Aug 29 Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
- Sep 2 A peace agreement is signed between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front in Malacañang Palace.
Event of Interest
Sep 2 Museum of Contemporary Art of Niterói (MAC) designed by Oscar Niemeyer inaugurated in Niterói, Brazil
