WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1996
Find out what all happened January to December 1996

Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour. (11. January 1996)

The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad. (29. July 1996)

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane collide in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349. The deadliest mid-air collision to date. (12. November 1996)

La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire. (29. January 1996)

The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest. (11. May 1996)

NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros. (17. February 1996)

Willamette Valley Flood of 1996: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest. (6. February 1996)

Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, is indicted on ten criminal counts. (18. June 1996)

In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah. (27. September 1996)

Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever: the Saguenay Flood. (18. July 1996)

In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge. (18. April 1996)

Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, and all 189 people inside the airplane are killed. This is the worst accident/incident involving a Boeing 757. (6. February 1996)

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match. (17. February 1996)

The 1996 Lebanon war ends. (27. April 1996)

Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK. (31. August 1996)

An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers. (25. November 1996)

Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people. (13. May 1996)

Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan. (27. December 1996)

The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000. (21. May 1996)

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet. (12. June 1996)