World Events
Population: 5.760 billion
Nobel Peace Prize: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta (East Timor)
Chechens capture 2,000 Russians (Jan. 9). Chechnya peace treaty signed (May 27).
France agrees to end nuclear testing (Jan. 29).
Britain alarmed by an outbreak of "mad cow" disease (March 20 et seq.).
UN tribunal charges war crimes by Bosnian Muslims and Croats (March 22). Nations pledge $1.23 billion in aid to rebuild Bosnia (April 22).
South Africa gets new constitution (May 8).
Israel elects Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister (May 31).
raqis strike at Kurdish enclave (Aug. 31); after warning, US attacks Iraq's southern air defenses (Sept. 2–3).
Militant Taliban leaders seize Afghan capital of Kabul (Sept. 27).
Ethnic violence breaks out in Zairian refugee camps (Oct. 13); Clinton approves plan for UN-backed relief mission for 1.2 million Hutu refugees starving in eastern Zaire (Nov. 13). Hundreds of thousands return to Rwanda (Nov. 15–18).
U.S. Events
President: William J. Clinton
Vice President: Albert Gore, Jr
Population: 265,189,794
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 50.8
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 44.4
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $7,661.60 billion
Federal spending: $1572.41 billion
Federal debt: $5207.3 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $35,492
Consumer Price Index : 56.9
Unemployment: 5.4%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.32
US budget crisis in fourth month (Jan 3).
Clinton approves resumption of many government operations (Jan. 6).
Bob Dole sweeps primaries (March 5).
F.B.I. arrests suspected Unabomber (April 3).
Clinton signs line-item veto bill (April 9).
President blocks ban on late-term abortions (April 10).
Valujet crashes in Everglades; all 110 aboard killed (May 11).
747 airliner crashes in Atlantic off Long Island, N.Y.; all 230 aboard perish (July 17).
Congress passes welfare reform bill (Aug. 2); approved by Clinton Aug. 22.
Republican convention nominates Bob Dole and Jack Kemp (Aug. 14); Democratic convention nominates incumbents Clinton and Gore, who win the national election (Nov. 5).
Clinton appoints Madeleine Albright as first female US secretary of state (Dec. 5).
Sports
Super Bowl
Dallas d. Pittsburgh (27-17)
Halftime show: Diana Ross (produced by Radio City, for the first time with a corporate sponsor)
World Series
New York Yankees d. Atlanta Braves (4-2)
NBA Championship
Chicago d. Seattle (4-2)
Stanley Cup
Colorado d. Florida (4-0)
Wimbledon
Women: Steffi Graf d. A.S. Vicario (6-3 7-5)
Men: Richard Krajicek d. M. Washington (6-3 6-4 6-3)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Grindstone
NCAA Basketball Championship
Kentucky d. Syracuse (76-67)
NCAA Football Champions
Florida (12-1)
Entertainment
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Independence Day, Richard Ford
Music: Lilacs, George Walker
Drama: Rent, Jonathan Larson
Oscars awarded in 1996
Academy Award, Best Picture: Braveheart, Mel Gibson, Alan Ladd, Jr. and Bruce Davey, producers (Paramount)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Wislawa Szymborska (Poland)
Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: Kiss From a Rose - Seal
Album of the Year: Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette (Maverick/Reprise)
Song of the Year: Kiss From a Rose - Seal
Miss America: Shawntel Smith (OK)
Events
President Bill Clinton signs legislation that significantly deregulates telecommunications, creating almost limitless opportunities for broadcasters and cable companies. Pressured by the Federal Communications Commission, television broadcasters agree to include three hours a week of educational children's programming into their schedules.
Janet Jackson becomes the highest paid musician in history when she signs an $80-million deal with Virgin Records.
Jazz great Ella Fitzgerald dies.
Broadcasters and television and PC manufacturers agree on a standard for HDTV (high-definition digital television).
Gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur is shot four times in a drive-by shooting. He dies six days later at age 25.
Movies
The English Patient, Fargo, Jerry Maguire, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Shine, Sling Blade
Books
Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes
Steven Millhauser, Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
Alice Munro, Selected Stories
Graham Swift, Last Orders
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Richard E. Smalley, Robert F. Curl, Jr. (both US), and Harold W. Kroto (UK), for discovery of a new class of carbon molecule
Physics: David M. Lee, Robert C. Richardson, and Douglas D. Osheroff (all US), for their discovery of superfluity in helium-3
Physiology or Medicine: Peter C. Doherty (Australia) and Rolf M. Zinkernagel (Switzerland), for discoveries about how the immune system recognizes virus-infected cells
Approximately 45 million people are using the Internet, with roughly 30 million of those in North America (United States and Canada), 9 million in Europe, and 6 million in Asia/Pacific (Australia, Japan, etc.). 43.2 million (44%) of US households own a personal computer, and 14 million of them are online. Background: Computers and Internet.
Global warming climbs to record (Jan. 3).
Scientists analyzing a Martian meteorite claim that it may provide evidence for the existence of ancient life on Mars.
Dr. Ian Wilmut and his team clone the world's first sheep from adult cells. The lamb born in July 1996 is named Dolly.
Deaths
Ella Fitzgerald
Spiro Agnew
George Burns
Gene Kelly
Timothy Leary
Marcello Mastroianni
Carl Sagan