__NOTOC__ 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year that started on a Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The year 1995 was the 1995th year in the Anno Domini/Common Era, the 995th year of the 2nd millennium, the 95th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1990s.

Events

January

January 1

* The World Trade Organization (WTO) is established to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

* Austria, Finland & Sweden act to join the European Union.

* The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.

January 6–January 7 – A chemical fire occurs in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines. Policemen led by watch commander Aida Fariscal and investigators find a bomb factory and a laptop computer and disks that contain plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack. The mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, is arrested 1 month later.

January 9 – Valeri Polyakov completes 366 days in space while aboard the Mir space station, breaking a duration record.

January 16 – An avalanche hits the village Súðavík in Iceland, killing 14 people.

January 17 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake called the "Great Hanshin earthquake" occurs near Kobe, Japan, causing great property damage and killing 6,434 people.

January 25 – Norwegian rocket incident: A rocket launched from the space exploration centre at Andøya, Norway is briefly interpreted by the Russians as an incoming attack.

January 30 – John Howard becomes leader of the Liberal Party of Australia to challenge Paul Keating for the 1996 Federal Election and the position of Prime Minister of Australia.

January 31 – U.S. President Bill Clinton invokes emergency powers, to extend a $20 billion loan to help Mexico avert financial collapse.

February

February 1 – Lyricist/guitarist Richey Edwards of the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers goes missing from a hotel in Bayswater, London on the eve of a planned tour of the United States. His car is found 2 weeks later at Severn View services in Aust.

February 9 – STS-63: Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale became the first African American and Briton, respectively, to walk in space.

February 13 – A United Nations tribunal on human rights violations in the Balkans charges 21 Bosnian Serb commanders with genocide and crimes against humanity.

February 15

* Hacker Kevin Mitnick is arrested by the FBI and charged with penetrating some of the United States' most "secure" computer systems.

* Taiwan's deadliest fire, at a karaoke restaurant in Taichung, kills 64.

* In Dublin, a Republic of Ireland vs. England football match in Lansdowne Road is abandoned, due to violence and rioting.

February 17 – Colin Ferguson is convicted of 6 counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence.

February 21

* Serkadji prison mutiny in Algeria: Four guards and 96 prisoners are killed in a day and a half.

* Ibrahim Ali, a 17-year-old Comorian living in France, is murdered by 3 far-right National Front activists.

* Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

February 23 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 30.28 to close at 4,003.33 – the Dow's first ever close above 4,000.

February 25 – Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) (Organización del Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica [OTCA]).

February 26 – The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm, Barings Bank, collapses after securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

February 27 – In Denver, Colorado, Stapleton Airport closes and is replaced by the new Denver International Airport, the largest in the United States.

February 28 – Members of the group Patriot's Council are convicted in Minnesota of manufacturing ricin.

March

March 1

* Polish Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak resigns from Parliament and is replaced by ex-communist Jozef Oleksy.

* In Moscow, Russian anti-corruption journalist Vladislav Listyev is killed by a gunman.

March 2 – Nick Leeson is arrested for his role in the collapse of Barings Bank.

March 3 – In Somalia, the United Nations peacekeeping mission ends.

March 6 – On an episode of The Jenny Jones Show ("Same-Sex Crushes"), Scott Amedure reveals a crush on his heterosexual friend Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz kills Amedure several days after the show.

March 13 – David Daliberti and William Barloon, two Americans working for a military contractor in Kuwait, are arrested after straying into Iraq.

March 14 – Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American to ride into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle (the Soyuz TM-21), lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

March 16 – Mississippi ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The amendment was nationally ratified in 1865.

March 20 – Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult release sarin gas on 5 subway trains in Tokyo, killing 13 and injuring 5,510.

March 22 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in outer space.

March 24 – For the first time in 26 years, no British soldiers patrol the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

March 26 – The Schengen Agreement, easing cross-border travel, goes into effect in several European countries.

March 30 – A police officer tries to assassinate Takaji Kunimatsu, chief of the National Police Agency of Japan.

March 31 – Tejano superstar Selena is killed by the president of her own fanclub, Yolanda Saldívar.

April

April 1 – Dialog Telekom launches Sri Lanka's first GSM mobile phone network.

April 2 – An explosion in Gaza kills 8, including a Hamas leader.

April 5 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 246–188 to cut taxes for individuals and corporations.

April 7 – House Republicans celebrate passage of most of the Contract with America.

April 19 – Oklahoma City bombing: 168 people, including 8 Federal Marshals and 19 children, are killed at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Timothy McVeigh and one of his accomplices, Terry Nichols, set off the bomb.

April 24 – A Unabomber bomb kills lobbyist Gilbert Murray in Sacramento, California.

April 28 – In Daegu, South Korea, a gas explosion at a subway construction site kills 101 persons, mostly teenage schoolboys.

May

May 1

* Jacques Chirac is elected president of France

* Croatian forces launch Operation Flash against rebel Serb forces in western Slavonia.

May 7 – Finland wins the ice hockey world championship.

May 11 – More than 170 countries agree to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.

May 13 – An earthquake hits the regions of Kozani and Grevena in Greece, with an intensity of 6.6 on the Richter scale.

May 14

* The Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

* Team New Zealand wins the America's Cup in San Diego, beating Stars and Stripes 5–0.

May 16 – Japanese police besiege the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo near Mount Fuji and arrest cult leader Shoko Asahara.

May 17 – Shawn Nelson, 35, goes on a tank rampage in San Diego.

May 20 – U.S. President Bill Clinton indefinitely closes part of the street in front of the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue, to vehicular traffic in response to the Oklahoma City bombing.

May 21 – Pope John Paul II canonizes John Sarkander during his visit to Olomouc, the Czech Republic.

May 23 – Oklahoma City bombing: In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the remains of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building are imploded.

May 24 – AFC Ajax wins the UEFA Champions League in the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna by defeating AC Milan 0–1 by a goal of Patrick Kluivert. This was the third consecutive win of AFC Ajax over AC Milan that season, ranking AFC Ajax on the 4th place on the list of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners.

May 25 – Egan v. Canada: The Supreme Court of Canada rules that discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

May 27 – In Culpeper, Virginia, actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition.

May 28 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Neftegorsk, Russia kills at least 2,000.

June

June 1 – The busiest hurricane season in 62 years begins.

June 2

* Mrkonjić Grad incident: A United States Air Force F-16 piloted by Captain Scott O'Grady is shot down over Bosnia and Herzegovina while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone. O'Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines six days later.

* Waffen-SS Hauptsturmführer Erich Priebke is extradited from Argentina to Italy.

June 6

* U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard breaks NASA's space endurance record of 14 days, 1 hour and 16 minutes, aboard the Russian space station Mir.

* The Constitutional Court of South Africa abolishes capital punishment in South Africa in the case of S v Makwanyane and Another.

June 13 – French President Jacques Chirac announces the resumption of nuclear tests in French Polynesia.

June 15 – A powerful earthquake, registering a moment magnitude of 6.2, hits the city of Aigio, Greece, resulting in several deaths and significant damage to many buildings.

June 16 – The IOC selects Salt Lake City to host the 2002 Winter Olympics.

June 20 – Oil multinational Royal Dutch Shell caves in to international pressure and abandons plans to dump the Brent Spar oil rig at sea.

June 22 – Japanese police rescue 365 hostages from a hijacked All Nippon Airways Flight 857 (Boeing 747-200) at Hakodate airport. The hijacker was armed with a knife and demanded the release of Shoko Asahara.

June 24

* The New Jersey Devils sweep the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings to win their first Stanley Cup in the lock-out shortened season.

* South Africa wins the Rugby World Cup.

June 29

* Lisa Clayton completes her 10-month solo circumnavigation from the Northern Hemisphere.

* STS-71: Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir space station for the first time.

* The Sampoong Department Store collapses in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, South Korea, killing 501 and injuring 937.

* Iraq disarmament crisis: According to UNSCOM, the unity of the UN Security Council begins to fray, as a few countries, particularly France and Russia, become more interested in making financial deals with Iraq than in disarming the country.

July

July – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq threatens to end all cooperation with UNSCOM and IAEA, if sanctions against the country are not lifted by August 31. Following the defection of his son-in-law, Hussein Kamel al-Majid, Saddam Hussein makes new revelations about the full extent of Iraq's biological and nuclear weapons programs. Iraq also withdraws its last UN declaration of prohibited biological weapons and turns over a large amount of new documents on its WMD programs.

July 1 – Iraq disarmament crisis: In response to UNSCOM's evidence, Iraq admits for first time the existence of an offensive biological weapons program, but denies weaponization.

July 4 – UK Prime Minister John Major wins his battle to remain leader of the Conservative Party.

July 5 – The U.S. Congress passes the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act, requiring that producers of pornography keep records of all models who are filmed or photographed, and that all models be at least 18 years of age.

July 10 – Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi is freed from house arrest.

July 11 – Bosnian Serbs march into Srebrenica while UN Dutch peacekeepers leave. Large numbers of Bosniak men and boys are killed in the Srebrenica massacre.

July 17 – The Nasdaq Composite index closes above the 1,000 mark for the first time.

July 18 – A series of huge eruptions by the Soufrière Hills volcano sends lava flows and ash falls across a wide area of southern Montserrat.

July 21–July 26 – Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People's Liberation Army fires missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.

July 23 – David Daliberti and William Barloon, 2 Americans held as spies by Iraq, are released by Saddam Hussein after negotiations with U.S. Congressman Bill Richardson.

August

August 2 – The first cold front of the White Earthquake strikes Chile, during the rest of August several communities becomes isolated due to heavy snowfall and livestock is decimated.

August 4 – Croatian forces launch Operation Storm against Serbian forces in Krajina, with the cooperation of the ARBiH, and force them to withdraw to central Bosnia and Herzegovina.

August 5 – Croatian forces take Knin and continue to advance.

August 6 – Hundreds in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo mark the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb.

August 7 – Operation Storm ends with a UN-brokered ceasefire; remaining Serbian forces start surrendering.

August 11 – The Russell Hill subway accident results in 3 deaths and 30 injuries in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

August 14 – An avalanche buries Alison Hargreaves, the first woman to climb Mt. Everest without oxygen; she is reported dead.

August 24 – Microsoft releases Windows 95.

August 28 – A Serbian mortar bomb near a Sarajevo market square kills 38 civilians.

August 29 – Eduard Shevardnadze, the Georgian head of state, survives an assassination attempt in Tbilisi.

August 30 – The NATO bombing campaign against Serb artillery positions begins in Bosnia and Herzegovina, continuing into October. At the same time, ARBiH forces begin an offensive against the Bosnian Serb Army around Sarajevo, central Bosnia, and Bosnian Krajina.

September

September

* The DVD, an optical disc computer storage media format, is announced.

* The European Parliament elects the first European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, who takes up office in September 1995.

September 4

* eBay is founded.

* The Fourth World Conference on Women opens in Beijing with over 4,750 delegates from 181 countries in attendance.

September 6 – NATO air strikes continue, after repeated attempts at a solution with the Serbs fail.

September 19 – The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto.

September 22 – American millionaire Steve Forbes announces his candidacy for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination.

September 23 – Argentine national Guillermo "Bill" Gaede is arrested in Phoenix, Arizona on charges of industrial espionage. His sales to Cuba, China, North Korea and Iran are believed to have involved Intel and AMD trade secrets worth USD$10–20 million.

September 26 – The trial against former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who is accused of Mafia connections, begins.

September 27–September 28 – Bob Denard's mercenaries capture President Said Mohammed Djohor of the Comoros; the local army does not resist.

October

October 3 – O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of double murder for the deaths of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

October 4

* France launches a counter-coup in the Comoros with 600 soldiers. They arrest Bob Denard and his mercenaries and take Denard to France; Caabi el-Yachroutu becomes the interim president.

Hurricane Opal makes landfall at Pensacola Beach, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane with winds.

October 5 – Tansu Çiller of DYP forms the new government of Turkey (51st government, a minority government which failed to receive the vote of confidence)

October 6 – Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz announce the discovery of 51 Pegasi b, the first confirmed extrasolar planet orbiting an ordinary main-sequence star.

October 9 – 1995 Palo Verde derailment: An Amtrak Sunset Limited train is derailed by saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona.

October 15 – The Carolina Panthers win their first-ever regular season game by defeating the New York Jets at Clemson Memorial Stadium in South Carolina.

October 16 – The Million Man March is held in Washington, D.C. The event was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

October 17 – French woman Jeanne Calment reaches the confirmed age of 120 years and 238 days, making her the oldest person ever recorded.

October 23 – In Houston, Texas, Yolanda Saldivar is convicted of first degree murder in the shooting death of Selena Quintanilla Perez and three days later is sentenced to life in prison.

October 24 – A total solar eclipse is visible from Iran, India, Thailand, and Southeast Asia.

October 25 – A Metra commuter train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.

October 26 – An avalanche hits the village Flateyri in Iceland, killing 20 people.

October 28 – A fire in Baku Metro, Azerbaijan, kills 289 passengers (the world's worst subway disaster).

October 30

* Quebec independentists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada.

* Tansu Çiller of DYP forms the new government of Turkey.

November

November 1

* NASA loses contact with the Pioneer 11 probe.

* Participants in the Yugoslav War begin negotiations at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

* The U.S. House of Representatives votes to ban partial birth abortions by a vote of 288–139.

November 2 – The Supreme Court of Argentina orders the extradition of Erich Priebke, ex-S.S. captain.

November 3 – At Arlington National Cemetery, U.S. President Bill Clinton dedicates a memorial to the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing.

November 4 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

November 7 – Typhoon Angela leaves the Philippines and Vietnam devastated, with 882 deaths and damage of P 10,829,000,000. The typhoon was the strongest ever to strike the Philippines in 25 years, with wind speeds of and gusts of .

November 10

* Iraq disarmament crisis: With help from Israel and Jordan, UNSCOM inspector Scott Ritter intercepts 240 Russian gyroscopes and accelerometers on their way to Iraq from Russia.

* In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with 8 others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, are hanged by government forces.

November 12 – The Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, a programme to implement the Harare Declaration, is announced by the Commonwealth Heads of Government.

November 14 – A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the Congress of the United States, forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums, and run most government offices with skeleton staff.

November 16 – A United Nations tribunal charges Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladic with genocide during the Bosnian War.

November 21

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 40.46 to close at 5,023.55, its first close above 5,000. This makes 1995 the first year where the Dow surpasses 2 millennium marks in a single year.

* The Dayton Agreement to end the Bosnian War is reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio (signed December 14).

November 22

* Rosemary West is sentenced to life for killing 10 women and girls, including her daughter and stepdaughter, after the jury returns a guilty verdict at Winchester Crown Court. The trial judge recommends that she should never be released from prison, making her only the second woman in British legal history to be subjected to a whole life tariff (the other is Myra Hindley).

* Six-year-old Elisa Izquierdo's child abuse-related death at the hands of her mother makes headlines, and instigates major reform in New York City's child welfare system.

* Egypt, Eilat, Israel, and much of the North African Mediterranean is struck by the strongest earthquake (7.2 $M\_\backslash mathrm\{w\}$) along the Dead Sea Transform in a century; 8 are killed.

* The first ever full length computer animated feature film "Toy Story" was released by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures.

November 28

* The Barcelona Treaty is signed by 27 attending nations.

U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the National Highway Designation Act, which ends the federal speed limit.

November 30 – Javier Solana becomes the new NATO General Secretary; Operation Desert Storm officially ends.

December

December 3 – Strikes paralyze France's public sector.

December 7 – NASA's Galileo probe reenters over Jupiter.

December 8

* Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, suffers a massive stroke and lapses into a coma.

* 6-year-old Gyaincain Norbu is enthroned as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama at Tashilhunpo Monastery.

December 14 – The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris.

December 15

* The European Court of Justice rules that all EU football players have the right to a free transfer among member states at the end of their contracts.

* Because of the "quadruple-witching" option expiration, volume on the New York Stock Exchange hits 638 million shares, the highest single-day volume since October 20, 1987, when the Dow staged a stunning recovery a day after Black Monday.

December 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi scuba divers, under the direction of the United Nations Special Commission, dredge the Tigris near Baghdad. The divers find over 200 prohibited Russian-made missile instruments and components.

December 20 – American Airlines Flight 965 (Boeing 757) crashes into a mountain near Buga, Valle del Cauca, Colombia after veering off its course en route to Cali, Colombia. Of the 164 people on board, four passengers and a dog are the only survivors.

December 30

The lowest ever United Kingdom temperature of is recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. This equals the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire in 1895 and 1982.

* The Republic of Texas group claims to have formed a provisional government in Texas.

December 31 – The final original Calvin and Hobbes comic strip is published.

Date unknown

Sudden oak death, the tree disease caused by the plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, is first observed, in California.

World population

{|class="wikitable" !colspan="7"|World population |- ! !1995 !colspan="2"|1990 !colspan="2"|2000 |- ! |align="right"|5,674,380,000 |align="right"|5,263,593,000 |align="right"| |align="right"|6,070,581,000 |align="right"|10px396,201,000 |- ! |align="right"|707,462,000 |align="right"|622,443,000 |align="right"|10px 85,019,000 |align="right"|795,671,000 |align="right"|10px 88,209,000 |- ! |align="right"|3,430,052,000 |align="right"|3,167,807,000 |align="right"|10px262,245,000 |align="right"|3,679,737,000 |align="right"|10px249,685,000 |- ! |align="right"|825,405,000 |align="right"|721,582,000 |align="right"|10px 5,823,000 |align="right"|830,986,000 |align="right"|10px 581,000 |- | {| style="background: #EEEEEE; width: 4em;" |style="border: 0px;"| !style="border: 0px;"|Latin-America/ Islands |} |align="right"|481,099,000 |align="right"|441,525,000 |align="right"|10px 39,574,000 |align="right"|520,229,000 |align="right"|10px 39,130,000 |- | {| style="background: #EEEEEE; width: 4em;" |style="border: 0px;"| !style="border: 0px;"|Northern America |} |align="right"|299,438,000 |align="right"|283,549,000 |align="right"|10px 15,889,000 |align="right"|315,915,000 |align="right"|10px 16,477,000 |- ! |align="right"|28,924,000 |align="right"|26,687,000 |align="right"|10px 2,237,000 |align="right"|31,043,000 |align="right"|10px 2,119,000 |}

Births

January

January 3 – Muhammed Demirci, Turkish footballer

January 4 – María Isabel, Spanish singer

January 9 – Nicola Peltz, American actress

January 18 – José Francisco Cevallos, Jr., Ecuadorian footballer

January 21 – Jennifer Rae Daykin, British teen actress

January 24

* Callan McAuliffe, Australian actor

* Dylan Everett, Canadian actor

January 26 – Kyle Chavarria, American actress

January 30

* Danielle Campbell, Actress

* Thia Megia, American singer from American Idol

February

February 6 – Nyck de Vries, Dutch kart racer

February 13

* Ayame Koike, Japanese actress

* Marsel Efroimski, Israeli chess player

February 14 – Diego Fagundez, American soccer player

February 26 – Liam Fairhurst, British charity fundraiser (d.2009)

February 28 – Madisen Beaty, American actress

March

March 7 – Hailey Clauson, American model

March 8 – Luca Brecel, Belgian snooker

March 12 – Kanon Fukuda, Japanese pop singer and seiyu

March 19 – Philip Daniel Bolden, American actor

March 23 – Alina Abdurakhimova, Uzbekistani tennis player

March 27 – Taylor Atelian, American Actress

April

April 11 – Ryan Hanson Bradford, American actor

April 14 – Yukiko Fujisawa, Japanese figure skater

April 15 – Kiri Baga, American figure skater

April 28 – Yulia Gurska, Ukrainian singer-songwriter

May

May 2 – Skye Bennett, English actress

May 4 – Martin Santiago Augusto Castillo, Argentine boxer

May 5 – Devon Gearhart, American actor

May 10 – Missy Franklin, American swimmer

May 12

* Luke Benward, American actor and singer

* Kenton Duty, American actor (Shake It Up)

May 15 – Ksenia Sitnik, Belarusian singer

May 25 – Greg Grossman, American chef

June

June 2 – Sterling Beaumon, American actor

June 5 – Beckii Cruel, British pop dancer

June 8

* Bessie Cursons, English actress

* Akari Saho, Japanese musician

June 9 – Alina Grosu, Ukrainian singer

June 23 – Eva Lazzaro, Australian actress

June 27 – Eirik Gjen, Norwegian artist

July

July 7 – Chloe Greenfield, American actress

July 9 – Georgie Henley, English actress

July 26 – Holly Bodimeade, British actress

August

August 20 – Liana Liberato, American Actress

August 23 – Tommy Batchelor, American dancer

August 29 – Aria Clemente, Filipina singer and Actress

September

September 4 – Trevor Gagnon, American actor

September 5

* Tehilla Blad, Swedish actress

* Caroline Sunshine, American actress (Shake It Up)

September 8 – Thuliso Dingwall, American actor

September 20 – Laura Dekker, Dutch solo sailor

September 22 – Juliette Goglia, American actress

October

October 8 – Courtney Taylor Burness, American actress

October 12 – Lauren Dixon, Canadian actress and singer

October 21 – Antoinette Guedia, Cameroonian swimmer

October 25 – Conchita Campbell, Canadian actress

November

November 1 – Nour El Sherbini, Egyptian squash players

November 3 – Kendall Jenner, American model and a member of the Kardashian family

November 7 – Michael Dameski, Australian Dancer and actor

November 16 – Noah Gray-Cabey, American actor and pianist

December

December 6 – Joy Gruttmann, German singer

December 14 – Yulia Belokobylskaya, Russian gymnast

December 19 – Elliot Evans, English singer

December 22 – Hunter Allan, American actor

December 26 – Zach Mills, American actor

Deaths

January

January 1

* Fred West, English serial killer who raped his victims (b. 1941)

* Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)

January 2

* Siad Barre, Military dictator of Somalia (b. 1919)

* Nancy Kelly, American actress (b. 1921)

January 4 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist (b. 1907)

January 7

* Murray Rothbard, American economist (b. 1926)

* Larry Grayson, British comedian and game show host (b. 1923)

January 9 – Peter Cook, English comedian and writer (b. 1937)

January 18

* Adolf Butenandt, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)

* Ron Luciano, American baseball umpire (b. 1937)

January 22 – Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, American philanthropist (b. 1890)

January 30 – Gerald Durrell, British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter (b. 1925)

January 31 – George Abbott, American writer, director, and producer (b. 1887)

February

February 2

* Fred Perry, English tennis champion (b. 1909)

* Donald Pleasence, English actor (b. 1919)

February 4 – Patricia Highsmith, American author (b. 1921)

February 5 – Doug McClure, American actor (b. 1935)

February 6 – James Merrill, American poet (b. 1926)

February 8 – Rachel Thomas, Welsh actress (b. 1905)

February 9 – David Wayne, American actor (b. 1914)

February 12

* Robert Bolt, English writer (b. 1924)

* Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (b. 1952)

February 14 – U Nu, Burmese politician (b. 1907)

February 19

* Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, British politician (b. 1933)

* John Howard, American actor (b. 1913)

February 22 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)

February 23

* Melvin Franklin, American singer (b. 1942)

* James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)

February 24

* Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (b. 1914)

* Tatsumi Kumashiro, Japanese film director (b. 1927)

February 26 – Jack Clayton, British film director (b. 1921)

March

March 1 – Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist (b. 1956).

March 3 – Howard W. Hunter, American Mormon leader (b. 1907)

March 5 – Vivian Stanshall, English comedian, writer, artist, broadcaster, and musician (b. 1943)

March 7 – Georges J. F. Köhler, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1946)

March 8 – Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (b. 1965)

March 12 – Juanin Clay, American actress (b. 1949)

March 13

* Leon Day, American baseball player (b. 1916)

* Odette Hallowes, French World War II heroine (b. 1912)

March 14 – William Alfred Fowler, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)

March 16 – Albert Hackett, American dramatist and screenwriter (b. 1900)

March 17

* Ronald Kray, British organised crime leader (b. 1933)

* Rick Aviles, American actor (b. 1952)

March 18 – Robin Jacques, English illustrator (b. 1920)

March 19 – Yasuo Yamada, Japanese voice actor (b. 1932)

March 20

* Sidney Kingsley, American dramatist (b. 1906)

* John William Minton American Wrestler (Big John Studd) (b. 1948)

March 22 – Peter Woods, British journalist, reporter and newsreader (b. 1930)

March 23 – Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (b. 1956)

March 26 – Eazy-E, American rapper and record producer (b. 1963)

March 27 – Maurizio Gucci, Italian businessman (b. 1948)

March 28 – Hugh O'Connor, American actor the son of Carroll O'Connor (b. 1962)

March 29

* Tony Lock, English cricketer (b. 1929)

* Jimmy McShane (aka Baltimora), Northern Irish dancer (b. 1957)

March 31 – Selena Quintanilla Perez, Mexican American singer (b. 1971)

April

April 2

* Harvey Penick, American golfer (b. 1904)

* Hannes Alfvén, Swedish chemist, Nobel-prize (b.1908)

April 4

* Kenny Everett, British comedian (b. 1944)

* Priscilla Lane, American actress (b. 1915)

April 10 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician (b. 1896)

April 14 – Burl Ives, American singer (b. 1909)

April 15 – Harry Shoulberg, American painter and serigrapher (b. 1903)

April 16 – Cy Endfield, American screenwriter (b. 1914)

April 18 – Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (b. 1908)

April 20 – Milovan Đilas, Yugoslavian Marxist (b. 1911)

April 23 – Howard Cosell, American sportscaster (b. 1918)

April 24 – Art Fleming, American actor and game show host (b. 1924)

April 25

* Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer (b. 1911)

* Alexander Knox, Canadian actor (b. 1907)

* Andrea Fortunato, Italian football player (b. 1971)

May

May 2 – Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)

May 5

* Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian chess player (b. 1911)

* Al Sanders, American news anchorman (b. 1941)

May 6 – Noel Brotherston, Irish footballer (b. 1956)

May 8 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (b. 1953)

May 12 – Arthur Lubin, American film director (b. 1898)

May 14 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)

May 15

* Eric Porter, English actor (b. 1928)

* Woldeab Woldemariam, Eritrean Politician (b. 1905)

* Ben Bubar, American activist (b. 1917)

May 18

* Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (b. 1903)

* Alexander Godunov, Russian-born ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)

* Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (b. 1933)

May 24 – Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)

May 25 – Jack Allen, English actor (b. 1907)

May 26 – Friz Freleng, American animator (b. 1905)

May 27 – Severn Darden, American actor (b. 1929)

May 28 – Irfan Ljubijankic, Bosnian diplomat (b. 1952)

May 30 – Ted Drake, English footballer (b. 1912)

June

June 7 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese Buddhist master (b. 1918)

June 12 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (b. 1920)

June 15 – Charles Bennett, English screenwriter (b. 1899)

June 20 – Emil Cioran, Romanian philosopher and essayist (b. 1911)

June 23 – Jonas Salk, American medical researcher (b. 1914)

June 25 – Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1907)

June 26 – Ernest Walton, Irish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)

June 29 – Lana Turner, American actress (b. 1921)

June 30

* Georgi Beregovoi, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1921)

* Gale Gordon, American actor (b. 1906)

July

July 1 – Wolfman Jack, American disc jockey (b. 1938)

July 3 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis champion (b. 1928)

July 4

* Eva Gabor, Hungarian actress (b. 1919)

* Bob Ross, American television painter (b. 1942)

July 5 – Takeo Fukuda, Japanese politician (b. 1905)

July 16

* Patsy Ruth Miller, American actress (b. 1904)

* Stephen Spender, English poet and writer (b. 1909)

July 17

* Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine race car driver (b. 1911)

* Harry Guardino, American actor (b. 1925)

July 18 – Fabio Casartelli, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)

July 21 – Genevieve Tobin, American actress (b. 1899)

July 24

* Marjorie Cameron, American writer, painter, actress, and occultist (b. 1922)

* George Rodger, British photojournalist (b. 1908)

July 25 – Charlie Rich, American singer (b. 1932)

July 27 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian composer (b. 1907)

July 29 – Philippe De Lacy, American actor (b. 1917)

August

August 1 – Esther Muir, American actress (b. 1903)

August 3

* Ida Lupino, British actress (b. 1914)

* Edward Whittemore, American author and Central Intelligence agent (b. 1933)

August 4 – J. Howard Marshall, American billionaire (b. 1905)

August 7 – Brigid Brophy, English author (b. 1929)

August 9 – Jerry Garcia, American guitarist (b. 1942)

August 11 – Phil Harris, American actor (b. 1904)

August 13 – Mickey Mantle, baseball player (b. 1931)

August 15 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (b. 1906)

August 17 – Howard Koch, American screenwriter (b. 1901)

August 19 – Pierre Schaeffer, French composer (b. 1910)

August 21 – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian-born astrophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)

August 24

* Gary Crosby, American singer and actor (b. 1933)

* Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photographer (b. 1898)

August 29

* Michael Ende, German author (b. 1929)

* Frank Perry, American film director (b. 1930)

August 30

* Fischer Black, American economist (b. 1938)

* Sterling Morrison, American guitarist (b. 1942)

September

September 12 – Jeremy Brett, English actor (b. 1933)

September 15

* Harry Calder, South African cricketer (b. 1901)

* Dietrich Hrabak, German World War II flying ace (b. 1914)

* Gunnar Nordahl, Swedish footballer (b. 1921)

September 17 – Grady Sutton, American actor (b. 1906)

September 19 – Orville Redenbacher, American entrepreneur and businessman (b. 1907)

September 20 – Eileen Chang, Chinese writer (b. 1920)

September 25

* Annie Elizabeth Delany, American physician and author (b. 1891)

* Pedro Nolasco, Dominican republican boxer (b. 1963)

October

October 1 – Margaret Gorman, First Miss America winner (b. 1905)

October 5 – Linda Gary, American voice actress (b. 1944)

October 9 – Alec Douglas-Home, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1903)

October 21

* Maxene Andrews, American singer (b. 1916)

* Jesús Blasco, Spanish comic book author (b. 1919)

* Shannon Hoon, American singer (b. 1967)

October 22

* Kingsley Amis, English writer (b. 1922)

* Mary Wickes, American actress (b. 1910)

October 25

* Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress (b. 1920)

* Bobby Riggs, American tennis champion (b. 1918)

October 26

* Gorni Kramer, Italian bandleader and songwriter (b. 1913)

* Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (b. 1909)

October 29 – Terry Southern, American screenwriter (b. 1924)

November

November 4

* Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1922)

* Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher (b. 1925)

* Paul Eddington, English actor (b. 1927)

November 6 – Aneta Corsaut, American actress (b. 1933)

November 7 – Ann Dunham, American anthropologist and mother of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States (b. 1942)

November 12 – Robert Stephens, British actor (b. 1931)

November 13 – Ralph Blane, American composer (b. 1914)

November 20 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (b. 1967)

November 21 – Noel Jones, British diplomat (b. 1940)

November 22 – Elisa Izquierdo, American murder victim (b. 1989)

November 23 – Louis Malle, French film director (b. 1932)

November 24 – Jeffrey Lynn, American actor (b. 1909)

November 30 – Stretch, American rapper and record producer (b. 1972)

December

December 2

* Roxie Roker, American actress (b. 1929)

* Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist (b. 1913)

December 3 – Jimmy Jewel, English actor (b. 1909)

December 7 – Kathleen Harrison, British actress (b. 1892)

December 9 – Vivian Blaine, American actress (b. 1921)

December 10 – Darren Robinson, American rapper and actor (b. 1967)

December 16 – Johnny Moss, American poker player (b. 1907)

December 18 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer (b. 1910)

December 20 – Madge Sinclair, Jamaican-American actress (b. 1938)

December 22

* Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)

* James Meade, English economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)

December 23 – Patric Knowles, English actor (b. 1911)

December 25

* Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian-American musicologist (b. 1894)

* Dean Martin, American actor, singer and comedian (b. 1917)

December 28 – Virginius Dabney, American teacher, writer, journalist and editor (b. 1901)

December 30

* Doris Grau, American actress (b. 1924)

* Heiner Müller, German poet and playwright (b. 1929)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Martin L. Perl, Frederick Reines

Chemistry – Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina, F. Sherwood Rowland

Medicine – Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Eric F. Wieschaus

Literature – Seamus Heaney

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – Robert Lucas, Jr.

Peace – Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

Templeton Prize

Paul Davies

References

1995: A look back - CNN

CNN Time Capsule: The Defining Moments of 1995 - CNN

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Name	The Notorious B.I.G.
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Christopher George Latore Wallace
Alias	Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G., Big Poppa
Birth date	May 21, 1972
Birth place
Death date	March 09, 1997
Death place
Occupation	Rapper, songwriter
Genre	Hip hop
Years active	1992–1997
Label	Uptown Records Bad Boy
Associated acts	Lil' Kim, Sean Combs, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Total, 112, The Commission
Website	}}

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 March 9, 1997) was an American rapper. He was popularly known as Biggie Smalls (after a character in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again), Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White (after the main character of the 1990 film King of New York), but primarily by his stage name The Notorious B.I.G.

Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. When Wallace released his debut album Ready to Die in 1994, he became a central figure in the East Coast hip-hop scene and increased New York's visibility at a time when West Coast artists were more common in the mainstream. The following year, Wallace led his childhood friends to chart success through his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. While recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop feud, dominating the scene at the time.

On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His double-disc set Life After Death, released 15 days later, hit #1 on the U.S. album charts and was certified Diamond in 2000 (one of the few hip hop albums to receive this certification). Wallace was noted for his "loose, easy flow", dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and storytelling abilities. Since his death, a further two albums have been released. MTV ranked him at #3 on their list of The Greatest MCs (Rappers) of All Time. He has certified sales of 17 million units in the United States.

Early life

Born in St. Mary's Hospital, despite later claiming to be raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Wallace grew up in neighboring Clinton Hill. Wallace was the only child of Voletta Wallace, a Jamaican preschool teacher, and George Latore, a welder and small-time Jamaican politician. His father left the family when Wallace was two years old, leaving his mother to work two jobs while raising him. At the Queen of All Saints Middle School, Wallace excelled in class, winning several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed "Big" because of his size before he turned 10. At the age of 12, he began selling drugs. His mother, often away at work, did not know that her son was selling drugs until Wallace was an adult.

At his request, Wallace transferred out of the private Roman Catholic Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School to attend the state-funded George Westinghouse Information Technology High School. Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes were also students at that school. According to his mother, Wallace was still a good student, but developed a "smart-ass" attitude at the new school. At seventeen, Wallace dropped out of high school and became further involved in crime. In 1989, he was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five years' probation. In 1990, he was arrested on a violation of his probation. A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months behind bars until he made bail.

Rapping career

Wallace began rapping when he was a teenager. He would entertain people on the streets as well as perform with local groups, the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques. After being released from prison, Wallace made a demo tape under the name Biggie Smalls, a reference to his childhood nickname and to his stature; he stood at 6' 3" (1.91 m) and weighed as much as 300 to 380 pounds according to differing accounts. The tape was reportedly made with no serious intent of getting a recording deal, but was promoted by New York-based DJ Mister Cee, who had previously worked with Big Daddy Kane, and was heard by the editor of The Source.

In March 1992, Wallace featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column, dedicated to aspiring rappers, and was invited to produce a recording with other unsigned artists in a move that was reportedly uncommon at the time. The demo tape was heard by Uptown Records A&R; and record producer, Sean Combs, who arranged for a meeting with Wallace. He was signed to Uptown immediately and made an appearance on label mates, Heavy D & the Boyz' "A Buncha Niggas" (from the album Blue Funk). Soon after signing his recording contract, Combs was fired from Uptown and started a new label. Wallace followed and in mid-1992, signed to Combs' new imprint label, Bad Boy Records. On August 8, 1993, Wallace's longtime girlfriend gave birth to his first child, T'yanna. Wallace continued selling drugs after the birth to support his daughter financially. Once Combs discovered this, he was made to quit.

Wallace gained exposure later in the year on a remix to Mary J. Blige's single "Real Love", under the pseudonym The Notorious B.I.G., the name he would record under for the remainder of his career, after finding the original moniker "Biggie Smalls" was already in use. "Real Love" peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was followed by a remix of Blige's "What's the 411?". He continued this success, to a lesser extent, on remixes with Neneh Cherry ("Buddy X") and reggae artist Super Cat ("Dolly My Baby", also featuring Combs) in 1993. In April 1993, his solo track, "Party and Bullshit", appeared on the Who's the Man? soundtrack. In July 1994, he appeared alongside LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes on a remix to label mate Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear", reaching #9 on the Hot 100.

Ready to Die and marriage

On August 4, 1994, Wallace married singer Faith Evans after they met at a Bad Boy photoshoot. Four days later, Wallace had his first pop chart success as a solo artist with double A-side, "Juicy/Unbelievable", which reached #27 as the lead single to his debut album.

Ready to Die was released on September 13, 1994, and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually being certified four times Platinum. The album, released at a time when West Coast hip hop was prominent in the U.S. charts, according to Rolling Stone, "almost single-handedly... shifted the focus back to East Coast rap". It gained strong reviews on release and has received much praise in retrospect. In addition to "Juicy", the record produced two hit singles; the Platinum-selling "Big Poppa", which reached #1 on the U.S. rap chart, and "One More Chance" featuring Faith Evans, a loosely related remix of an album track and its best selling single.

Junior M.A.F.I.A. and coastal feud

In August 1995, Wallace's protegé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. ("Junior Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes"), released their debut album Conspiracy. The group consisting of his friends from childhood and included rappers such as Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease, who went on to have solo careers. The record went Gold and its singles, "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money" both featuring Wallace, went Gold and Platinum. Wallace continued to work with R&B; artists, collaborating with Bad Boy groups 112 (on "Only You") and Total (on "Can't You See"), with both reaching the top 20 of the Hot 100. By the end of the year, Wallace was the top-selling male solo artist and rapper on the U.S. pop and R&B; charts. In July 1995, he appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption "The King of New York Takes Over". At the Source Awards in August 1995, he was named Best New Artist (Solo), Lyricist of the Year, Live Performer of the Year, and his debut Album of the Year. At the Billboard Awards, he was Rap Artist of the Year.

In his year of success, Wallace became involved in a rivalry between the East and West Coast hip-hop scenes with Tupac Shakur, his former associate. In an interview with Vibe magazine in April 1995, while serving time in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur accused Uptown Records' founder Andre Harrell, Sean Combs, and Wallace of having prior knowledge of a robbery that resulted in him being shot repeatedly and losing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry on the night of November 30, 1994. Though Wallace and his entourage were in the same Manhattan-based recording studio at the time of the occurrence, they denied the accusation.

Following release from prison, Shakur signed to Death Row Records on October 15, 1995. Bad Boy Records and Death Row, now business rivals, became involved in an intense quarrel.

Arrests, Shakur's death and second child

Wallace began recording his second record album in September 1995. The album, recorded in New York, Trinidad and Los Angeles, was interrupted during its 18 months of creation by injury, legal wranglings and the highly publicized hip hop dispute in which he was involved. During this time he also worked with pop singer Michael Jackson for the HIStory album.

On March 23, 1996, Wallace was arrested outside a Manhattan nightclub for chasing and threatening to kill two autograph seekers, smashing the windows of their taxicab and then pulling one of the fans out and punching them. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. In mid-1996, he was arrested at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey, for drug and weapons possession charges.

In June 1996, Shakur released "Hit 'Em Up", a diss song in which he explicitly claimed to have had sex with Wallace's wife (at the time estranged) and that Wallace copied his style and image. Wallace referred to the first claim about his wife's pregnancy on Jay-Z's "Brooklyn's Finest" where he raps: "If Faye (Faith Evans, his wife at the time) have twins, she'd probably have two 'Pacs. Geddit? 2Pac's?". However, Wallace did not directly respond to the record during his lifetime, stating in a 1997 radio interview that it was "not [his] style" to respond.

Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 7, 1996. He would die six days later of complications from the gunshot wounds. Rumors of Wallace's involvement with Shakur's murder were reported almost immediately, and later in a two-part article by investigative reporter Chuck Philips in the Los Angeles Times in September 2002. Wallace denied the allegation claiming he was in a New York recording studio at the time. The Times later determined the article written by Philips "relied heavily on information that The Times no longer believes to be credible", including false FBI reports, and the paper published a retraction. Following his death, an anti-violence hip hop summit was held.

On October 29, 1996, Faith Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher "C.J." Wallace, Jr. The following month Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released her debut album, Hard Core, under Wallace's direction while the two were involved in an apparent love affair. She was also pregnant with Wallace's child but decided to have an abortion.

Life After Death and car accident

During the recording sessions for his second record, tentatively named "Life After Death... 'Til Death Do Us Part", later shortened to Life After Death, Wallace was involved in a car accident that shattered his left leg and confined him to a wheelchair. The injury forced him to use a cane.

In January 1997, Wallace was ordered to pay US$41,000 in damages following an incident involving a friend of a concert promoter who claimed Wallace and his entourage beat him up following a dispute in May 1995. He faced criminal assault charges for the incident which remain unresolved, but all robbery charges were dropped. Following the events of the previous year, Wallace spoke of a desire to focus on his "peace of mind". "My mom... my son... my daughter... my family... my friends are what matters to me now".

March 1997 shooting and death

Wallace traveled to California in February 1997 to promote his upcoming album and record a music video for its lead single, "Hypnotize". On March 5, 1997 he gave a radio interview with The Dog House on KYLD in San Francisco. In the interview he stated that he had hired security since he feared for his safety; this was because he was a celebrity figure in general, not because he was a rapper. Life After Death was scheduled for release on March 25, 1997. On January 8, 1997, Biggie Smalls and Sean "Puffy" Combs made a video "What's Beef" which was directed by Dave Meyers. On March 8, 1997, he presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles and was booed by some of the audience. After the ceremony, Wallace attended an after party hosted by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Other guests included Faith Evans, Aaliyah, Sean Combs, and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs.

On March 9, 1997, at around 12:30 a.m., Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after the Fire Department closed the party early because of overcrowding. Wallace traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his associates, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease and driver, Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.

By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Wallace's truck stopped at a red light from the museum. A black Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up alongside Wallace's truck. The driver of the Impala, an African American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace in the chest. Wallace's entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.

Murder case

Wallace's murder remains unsolved and there are many theories regarding the identities and motives of the murderers. Immediately after the shooting, reports surfaced linking the Shakur and Wallace murders, because of the similarities in the drive-by shootings.

In 2002, Randall Sullivan released LAbyrinth, a book compiling information regarding the murders of Wallace and Shakur based on evidence provided by retired LAPD detective, Russell Poole. Sullivan accused Marion "Suge" Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records and an alleged Bloods affiliate, of conspiring with David Mack, an LAPD officer and alleged Death Row security employee, to kill Wallace and make Shakur and his death appear the result of a fictitious bi-coastal rap rivalry. Sullivan believed that one of Mack's associates, Amir Muhammad (also known as Harry Billups), was the hitman based on evidence provided by an informant, and due to his close resemblance to the facial composite. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield released an investigative documentary, Biggie & Tupac, based mainly on the evidence used in the book.

An article published in Rolling Stone by Sullivan in December 2005 accused the LAPD of not fully investigating links with Death Row Records based on evidence from Poole. Sullivan claimed that Sean Combs "failed to fully cooperate with the investigation" and according to Poole, encouraged Bad Boy staff to do the same. The accuracy of the article was later refuted in a letter by the Assistant Managing Editor of the LA Times accusing Sullivan of using "shoddy tactics." Sullivan, in response, quoted the lead attorney of the Wallace estate calling the newspaper "a co-conspirator in the cover-up."

In January 2011, the case was reinvigorated as a result of new information reported by Anderson Cooper's AC360 "Cold Case" show and blog that it was being re-investigated by a law enforcement task force composed of the LAPD, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, and the FBI. In April, the FBI released redacted documents about their investigation into the shooting, revealing that the bullets were rare 9mm Gecko ammunition manufactured in Germany. The documents reported that LAPD officers monitoring the party Wallace was attending were also employed as security personnel for Knight; the documents also speculated that the Genovese crime family was withholding evidence about Wallace's death.

Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal was a close friend of Wallace's and on the night of Wallace's death, he was supposed to meet him at an after party. O'Neal has reportedly struggled with guilt about Wallace's death since that night.

Lawsuits

In March 2005, the relatives of Wallace filed a wrongful death claim against the LAPD based on the evidence championed by Russell Poole. They claimed the LAPD had sufficient evidence to arrest the assailant, but failed to use it. David Mack and Amir Muhammad (a.k.a. Harry Billups) were originally named as defendants in the civil suit, but were dropped shortly before the trial began after the LAPD and FBI dismissed them as suspects. In July 2005, the case was declared a mistrial after the judge showed concern that the police were withholding evidence. An attempt to expand the wrongful death lawsuit to include new claims failed in August 2006. The criminal investigation was re-opened in July 2006.

On January 19, 2007, Tyruss Himes (better known as Big Syke), a friend of Shakur who was implicated in the murder by television channel KTTV and XXL magazine in 2005, had a defamation lawsuit regarding the accusations thrown out of court.

On April 16, 2007, relatives of Wallace filed a second wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. The suit also named two LAPD officers in the center of the investigation into the Rampart scandal, Rafael Perez and Nino Durden. According to the claim, Perez, an alleged affiliate of Death Row Records, admitted to LAPD officials that he and Mack (who was not named in the lawsuit) "conspired to murder, and participated in the murder of Christopher Wallace". The Wallace family said the LAPD "consciously concealed Rafael Perez's involvement in the murder of ... Wallace". A U.S. district judge dismissed the lawsuit on December 19, 2007. Los Angeles Judge Florence-Marie Cooper reinstated the lawsuit on May 9, 2008. With the agreement of both sides, the lawsuit was dismissed April 5, 2010 without prejudice to refiling.

Posthumous career

Fifteen days after his death, Wallace's double-disc second album was released as planned with the shortened title of Life After Death and hit #1 on the Billboard 200 charts, after making a premature appearance at #176 due to street-date violations. The record album featured a much wider range of guests and producers than its predecessor. It gained strong reviews and in 2000 was certified Diamond, the highest RIAA certification awarded to a solo hip hop album.

Its lead single, "Hypnotize", was the last music video recording in which Wallace would participate. His biggest chart success was with its follow-up "Mo Money Mo Problems", featuring Sean Combs (under the rap alias "Puff Daddy") and Mase. Both singles reached #1 in the Hot 100, making Wallace the first artist to achieve this feat posthumously. The third single, "Sky's The Limit", featuring the band 112, was noted for its use of children in the music video, directed by Spike Jonze, who were used to portray Wallace and his contemporaries, including Sean Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. Wallace was named Artist of the Year and "Hypnotize" Single of the Year by Spin magazine in December 1997.

In mid-1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace on five songs, notably on the third single "Victory". The most prominent single from the record album was "I'll Be Missing You", featuring Combs, Faith Evans and 112, which was dedicated to Wallace's memory. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Life After Death and its first two singles received nominations in the rap category. The album award was won by Combs' No Way Out and "I'll Be Missing You" won the award in the category of Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group in which "Mo Money Mo Problems" was nominated.

Wallace had founded a hip hop supergroup called The Commission, which consisted of Jay-Z, Lil' Cease, Combs, Charli Baltimore and himself. The Commission was mentioned by Wallace in the lyrics of "What's Beef" on Life After Death and "Victory" from No Way Out but never completed an album. A song on Duets: The Final Chapter titled "Whatchu Want (The Commission)" featuring Jay-Z was based on the group.

In December 1999, Bad Boy released Born Again. The record consisted of previously unreleased material mixed with guest appearances including many artists Wallace had never collaborated with in his lifetime. It gained some positive reviews but received criticism for its unlikely pairings; The Source describing it as "compiling some of the most awkward collaborations of his career". Nevertheless, the album sold 3 million copies. Over the course of time, Wallace's vocals would appear on hit songs such as "Foolish" by Ashanti and "Realest Niggas" in 2002, and the song "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" with Shakur the following year. He also appeared on Michael Jackson's 2001 album, Invincible. In 2005, Duets: The Final Chapter continued the pattern started on Born Again and was criticized for the lack of significant vocals by Wallace on some of its songs. Its lead single "Nasty Girl" became Wallace's first UK #1 single. Combs and Voletta Wallace have stated the album will be the last release primarily featuring new material.

Legacy

Wallace is celebrated as one of the greatest rap artists and is described by Allmusic as "the savior of East Coast hip-hop". The Source and Blender named Wallace the greatest rapper of all time. In 2003, when XXL magazine asked several hip hop artists to list their five favorite MCs, Wallace's name appeared on more rappers' lists than anyone else. In 2006, he was ranked at #3 in MTV's The Greatest MC's of All Time.

Since his death, Wallace's lyrics have been sampled and quoted by a variety of hip hop, R&B; and pop artists including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Fat Joe, Nelly, Ja Rule, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Game, Clinton Sparks, Michael Jackson and Usher. On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Sean Combs (then using the rap alias "P. Diddy") and Snoop Dogg paid tribute to Wallace: an orchestra played while the vocals from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena speakers. In September 2005, VH1 had its second annual "Hip Hop Honors", with a tribute to Wallace headlining the show.

Wallace had begun to promote a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, which was to produce plus-sized clothing but fell dormant after he died. In 2004, his managers, Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow, launched the clothing line, with help from Jay-Z, selling T-shirts with images of Wallace on them. A portion of the proceeds go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation and to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired branding and licensing agency Wicked Cow Entertainment to guide the Estate's licensing efforts. Wallace-branded products on the market include action figures, blankets, and cell phone content.

The Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds an annual black-tie dinner ("B.I.G. Night Out") to raise funds for children's school equipment and supplies and to honor the memory of the late rapper. For this particular event, because it is a children's schools' charity, "B.I.G." is also said to stand for "Books Instead of Guns".

Style

Wallace mostly rapped on his songs in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as a "thick, jaunty grumble", which went deeper on Life After Death. He was often accompanied on songs with ad libs from Sean "Puffy" Combs. On The Source's Unsigned Hype, they described his style as "cool, nasal, and filtered, to bless his own material".

Allmusic describe Wallace as having "a loose, easy flow" with "a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession". Time magazine wrote Wallace rapped with an ability to "make multi-syllabic rhymes sound... smooth", while Krims describes Wallace's rhythmic style as "effusive". Before starting a verse, Wallace sometimes used onomatopoeic vocables to "warm up" (for example "uhhh" at the beginning of "Hypnotize" and "Big Poppa" and "whaat" after certain rhymes in songs such as "My Downfall").

Lateef of Latyrx notes that Wallace had, “intense and complex flows”, Fredro Starr of Onyx says, “Biggie was a master of the flow”, and Bishop Lamont states that Wallace mastered “all the hemispheres of the music”. “Notorious B.I.G. also often used the single-line rhyme scheme to add variety and interest to his flow”. Wallace was known to compose lyrics in his head, rather than write them down on paper, in a similar way to Jay-Z.

Wallace would occasionally vary from his usual style. On "Playa Hater" from his second album, he sang in a slow-falsetto. On his collaboration with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, "Notorious Thugs", he modified his style to match the rapid rhyme flow of the group.

Themes and lyrical content

Wallace's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales ("Niggas Bleed"), his drug dealing past ("10 Crack Commandments"), materialistic bragging ("Hypnotize"), as well as humor ("Just Playing (Dreams)"), and romance ("Me & My Bitch"). Rolling Stone named Wallace in 2004 as "one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs".

Guerilla Black, in the book How to Rap, describes how Wallace was able to both “glorify the upper echelon” and “[make] you feel his struggle”. According to Touré of The New York Times in 1994, Wallace's lyrics "[mixed] autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty". Marriott of The New York Times (in 1997) believed his lyrics were not strictly autobiographical and wrote he "had a knack for exaggeration that increased sales". Wallace described his debut as "a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in my life involving bitches and niggaz... from the beginning to the end".

Ready to Die is described by Rolling Stone as a contrast of "bleak" street visions and being "full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop". Allmusic write of "a sense of doom" in some of his songs and the NY Times note some being "laced with paranoia"; Wallace described himself as feeling "broke and depressed" when he made his debut. The final song on the album, "Suicidal Thoughts", featured Wallace contemplating suicide and concluded with him committing the act.

On Life After Death, Wallace's lyrics went "deeper". Krims explains how upbeat, dance-oriented tracks (which featured less heavily on his debut) alternate with "reality rap" songs on the record and suggests that he was "going pimp" through some of the lyrical topics of the former. XXL magazine wrote that Wallace "revamped his image" through the portrayal of himself between the albums, going from "midlevel hustler" on his debut to "drug lord".

Allmusic wrote that the success of Ready to Die is "mostly due to Wallace's skill as a storyteller"; In 1994, Rolling Stone described Wallace's ability in this technique as painting "a sonic picture so vibrant that you're transported right to the scene". On Life After Death Wallace notably demonstrated this skill on "I Got a Story to Tell" telling a story as a rap for the first half of the song and then as a story "for his boys" in conversation form.

Biopic

Notorious is a 2009 biographical film about Wallace and his life that starred rapper Jamal "Gravy" Woolard as Wallace. The film was directed by George Tillman, Jr. and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Producers included Sean "Diddy" Combs, Wallace's former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, as well as Voletta Wallace. On January 16, 2009, the movie's debut at the Grand 18 theater in Greensboro, North Carolina was postponed after a man was shot in the parking lot before the show. Ultimately, the film grossed over $43,000,000 worldwide.

In early October 2007, open casting calls for the role of Wallace began. Actors, rappers and unknowns all tried out. Beanie Sigel auditioned for the role, but was not picked. Sean Kingston claimed that he would play the role of Wallace, but producers denied he would be in the film. Eventually it was announced that rapper Jamal "Gravy" Woolard was cast as Wallace while Wallace's son, Christopher Wallace, Jr. was cast to play Wallace as a child. Other cast members include Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, Antonique Smith as Faith Evans, Naturi Naughton formerly of 3LW as Lil' Kim, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. Bad Boy released a soundtrack album to the film on January 13, 2009; the album contains hit singles of B.I.G. such as "Hypnotize", "Juicy", and "Warning" as well as rarities.

Discography

Studio albums

1994: Ready to Die

1997: Life After Death

Posthumous albums

1997: Life After Death

1999: Born Again

2005: Duets: The Final Chapter

Collaboration albums

1995: Conspiracy (with Junior M.A.F.I.A.)

Compilation albums

2007: Greatest Hits

2009: Notorious: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Awards and nominations

name	The Notorious B.I.G.
awards	4
nominations	11
billboardw	2
billboardn	2
grammyn	4
mtvvideow	1
mtvvideon	2
soulw	1
souln	3 }}

Wallace received two nominations from the Billboard Music Awards in 1995, including Rap Artist of the Year and Rap Single of the Year. The song "Mo Money Mo Problems" received several nominations in 1998, including Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards; Best Rap Video at the MTV Video Music Awards; and Best R&B;/Soul Album and Best R&B;/Soul or Rap Music Video at the Soul Train Music Awards. Overall, Wallace has received four awards from eleven nominations; one award and six nominations were received posthumously.

Billboard Music Awards

The Billboard Music Awards is sponsored by Billboard magazine and held annually in December.

|- |rowspan="2"| 1995 || The Notorious B.I.G. || Rap Artist of the Year || |- | "One More Chance" || Rap Single of the Year ||

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.

|- | || "Big Poppa" || Best Rap Solo Performance || |- |rowspan="3"| || "Hypnotize" || Best Rap Solo Performance || |- | "Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy) || Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group || |- | Life After Death || Best Rap Album ||

MTV Video Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.

|- | || "Hypnotize" || Best Rap Video || |- | || "Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy) || Best Rap Video ||

Soul Train Music Awards

The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual awards show that honors black musicians and entertainers.

|- |rowspan="3"| 1998 || Life After Death || Best R&B;/Soul Album, Male || |- |rowspan="2"| "Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy) || Best R&B;/Soul Album || |- | Best R&B;/Soul or Rap Music Video ||

The Source Awards

The Source Awards were awarded by hip hop magazine The Source.

|- |rowspan="4"| 1995 || The Notorious B.I.G. || New Artist of the Year, Solo || |- | Ready to Die || Album of the Year || |- | The Notorious B.I.G. || Lyricist of the Year || |- | The Notorious B.I.G. || Live Performer of the Year ||

References

Further reading

External links

BiggieDuets.com The Notorious B.I.G. Official Biggie Duets album website.

B.I.G. Action Figure Notorious B.I.G. official first ever action figure.

Notorious Movie "Notorious" Movie Official Site

biggiesmalls-rapphenomenon.com Biggie Smalls - Rap Phenomenon DVD documentary official site

FBI file on Christopher Wallace

NotoriousOnline.org – NotoriousOnline.org is a Non-profit website in memory of the late great Notorious BIG a.k.a. Biggie Smalls.

Category:1972 births Category:1997 deaths Category:American drug traffickers Category:American murder victims Category:American rappers of Jamaican descent Big Category:Bad Boy Records artists Category:Deaths by firearm in California Category:Murdered rappers Category:People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Category:People murdered in California Category:Pseudonymous rappers Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Unsolved murders in the United States

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