WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1996
Find out what all happened January to August 1996

Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce. (28. August 1996)

Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Netherlands. (1. January 1996)

Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ties all-time record low temperature at -26 °F (-32.2 °C) (4. February 1996)

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

The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes a large bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, United Kingdom. (15. June 1996)

Battle of Mullaitivu: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1200 soldiers. (18. July 1996)

President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing. (29. January 1996)

Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard. (29. August 1996)

Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US welfare policy (22. August 1996)

Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President. (23. March 1996)

Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. (5. July 1996)

In a military coup Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane. (27. January 1996)

TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board. (17. July 1996)

Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake. (31. January 1996)

Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians. (20. May 1996)

The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares the end to its 18-month ceasefire and explodes a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf. (9. February 1996)

The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. (19. January 1996)

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

The Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents. (13. June 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)