1996

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1960s  1970s  1980s  – 1990s –  2000s  2010s  2020s
Years:	1993 1994 1995 – 1996 – 1997 1998 1999

1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1996th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 996th year of the 2nd millennium, the 96th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1990s decade. It was also a common year starting on Tuesday of the obsolete Julian calendar.

The most important events

Blizzard of January 1996:Snow drifts in Yonkers, New York.

Bill Clinton is reelected as US president.

• January 7 – The Eastern US is hit by a 1996. It was almost the same as the 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002 blizzards. It killed more than 150 people.
• January 11 – Ryutaro Hashimoto becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
• January 15 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho dies in a car crash.
• January 16 – Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono was also on the plane, but neither singer was injured.
• January 18 – Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson.
• January 29 – Garth Brooks refuses to accept his American Music Award for "Favorite Overall Artist". Brooks says that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did it.
• January 29 – Jacques Chirac announces the end of French nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean.
• February 4 – An earthquake of magnitude 7 in southwestern China kills more than 240 people.
• February 4 – Former Milli-Vanilli member Rob Pilatus is hospitalized when a man hits him over the head with a baseball bat in Hollywood, California. Pilatus was attempting to steal the man's car.
• February 6 – Birgenair Flight 301 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near the Dominican Republic, killing 189 people.
• February 10 – The computer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in a chess match.
• February 14 – The Artist Formerly Known As Prince marries backup singer Mayte Garcia.
• February 20 – Snoop Doggy Dogg and his bodyguard acquitted of first degree murder. The jury deadlocks on voluntary manslaughter charges and a mistrial is declared.
• March 2 – John Howard is elected Prime Minister of Australia, taking office on March 11.
• March 4 – The Beatles' second reunion song is released, as part of their first reuinion since the band's breakup 26 years earlier. The song is simply a finished version of a John Lennon demo from 1980; a song called Real Love.
• March 13 – Dunblane massacre: Thomas Hamilton kills 16 pupils and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland.
• March 13 – Ramones fans riot in Buenos Aires, Argentina after waiting all night for concert tickets only to find out that the show had been sold out.
• March 16 – Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ends its 16th consecutive week at No. 1 with "One Sweet Day". It is the longest consecutive week stay at No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history.
• March 17 – Sri Lanka wins the cricket World Cup.
• March 18 – The Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting for a 20th anniversary tour.
• March 28 – Phil Collins announces that he is leaving Genesis to focus on his solo career.
• April 3 – M.C. Hammer files for bankruptcy.
• April 4 – The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia's widow, Deborah, scatter part of Garcia's ashes in the Ganges River in India. 1996 like a 1992 one.
• April 15 – The remaining part of Jerry Garcia's ashes are scattered near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
• April 24 – This Train, Rick Elias, Jimmy A, Phil Keaggy, Carolyn Arends, Third Day & Ashley Cleveland perform a tribute concert for Rich Mullins at Nashville's Cafe Milano. Speakers included Reunion Records executive Terry Hemmings, record producer Reed Arvin, disc jockey Jon Rivers, & writer Brennan Manning.
• April 28 – Port Arthur massacre: Martin Bryant kills 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
• May 8 – In Los Angeles, California, a judge rules against Tommy Lee and wife actress Pamela Anderson Lee in their attempt to keep Penthouse magazine from publishing still photos taken from an X-rated home movie which was stolen from their home.
• May 11 – Everest disaster: A sudden storm kills 8 people on Mount Everest.
• May 31 – The hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup is given to Japan and South Korea, marking the time that Asia gets to host the FIFA World Cup. SUPERMARKET SWEEP for Louise Anderson
• June 1 – Deve Gowda becomes Prime Minister of India.
• June 15 – An IRA bomb injures over 200 people in Manchester.
• June 23 – The Nintendo 64 game system is released in Japan.
• June 30 – Germany defeats the Czech Republic 2–1 to win UEFA Euro 96.
• July – The Smashing Pumpkins drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin, is arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The other band members fire him because they said his "insidious battle with drugs and alcohol" had nearly ruined everything for the band.
• July 5 – Dolly, a cloned sheep, is born.
• July 19 – August 4 – The 1996 Summer Olympics are held in Atlanta, Georgia.
• July 27 – One person is killed and 111 are injured in the Centennial Park bombing in Atlanta.
• August 6 – The Ramones play their last ever show at Lollapalooza.
• August 15 – Bob Dole is nominated as the Republican Party candidate for the US presidential election.
• August 28 – Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales officially divorce.
• September 7 – Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot 4 times in Las Vegas, Nevada while leaving the MGM Grand hotel, after seeing the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon boxing match, in what is apparently a drive-by shooting.
• September 12 – Controversy follows The Eagles when the band dedicates "Peaceful Easy Feeling" to Saddam Hussein at a United States Democratic Party fundraiser held in Los Angeles.
• September 13 – Tupac Shakur died in hospital after his wounds from the Las Vegas, Nevada MGM Grand shooting.
• September 14 – Alija Izetbegovic is elected President of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• September 27 – The Taliban capture Kabul, to take control of Afghanistan. Former President Mohammad Najibullah is killed.
• November 5 – A volcanic eruption under the Grimsvotn ice cap in Iceland causes a glacial flood.
• November 5 – Bill Clinton is reelected as President of the United States, defeating Bob Dole.
• November 7 – A category 4 cyclone hits Andhra Pradesh, India. Over 2000 people were killed and 95% of the crops were destroyed.
• November 8 – After having first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the movie Hype!, a documentary on the Seattle grunge scene, opens to general audiences.
• November 12 – Saudi and Kazak airliners collide, killing 349 people.
• December 13 – Kofi Annan is chosen to become UN Secretary-General, a position he takes up on January 1, 1997.
• December 30 – A train is bombed by Bodo separatists in Assam, India, killing 26 people.
• Larry Ewing creates Tux, the Linux mascot.
• Sildenafil patented.
• Wasi Muhammad Qureshi appointed as president of International Spiritual Movement Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam by its founder Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi.

Births

• April 14 – Abigail Breslin, American actress
• May 8 – 6ix9ine, American rapper
• June 28 - Adam Dutschke, Australian basketball player
• July 5 – Dolly, cloned sheep (d. 2003)
• September 1 – Zendaya, American actress
• September 6 – Lil Xan, American rapper
• September 13 - Joseph Boyce, American actor, director, producer, and writer
• December 11 – Hailee Steinfeld, American actress

Deaths

January

Arleigh Burke

Arthur Rudolph

Paul Vialar

Francois Mitterrand

Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho

Barbara Jordan

N. T. Rama Rao

Gerry Mulligan

Fatima Rushdi

Joseph Brodsky

Jerry Siegel

• January 1 – Leopoldo Benites, President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1905)
• January 1 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)
• January 1 - Arthur Rudolph, German engineer (b. 1906)
• January 1 – Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian author (b. 1930)
• January 1 – Hamish Imlach, British singer (b. 1940)
• January 1 – Orapin Chaiyakan, Thai politician (b. 1904)
• January 2 - Karl Rappan, Austrian footballer (b. 1905)
• January 2 - Thornton Leigh Page, American professor of astronomy (b. 1913)
• January 4 – Akira Kawamura, Japanese novelist (b. 1927)
• January 4 – Ramón Vinay, Chilean opera singer (b. 1911)
• January 5 - Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian military leader (b. 1966)
• January 5 – Richard Versaille, American operatic tenor (b. 1932)
• January 5 – Danny White, American singer (b. 1931)
• January 6 – Chubby Wise, American bluegrass fiddler (b. 1915)
• January 6 – Duane Hanson, American sculptor (b. 1925)
• January 7 - Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician (b. 1930)
• January 7 - Tarō Okamoto, Japanese artist (b. 1911)
• January 7 – Fons Baeten, Dutch politician (b. 1920)
• January 8 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer (b. 1968)
• January 8 – Paul Vialar, French author (b. 1898)
• January 8 – Francois Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
• January 9 - Fearless Nadia, Indian actress (b. 1908)
• January 9 – Abdullah al-Qasemi, Saudi Arabian writer (b. 1907)
• January 11 - Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1942)
• January 11 – Peter Knegjens, Dutch television presenter (b. 1916)
• January 11 - Tato Bores, Argentine actor (b. 1927)
• January 12 - Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Dutch mathematician (b. 1903)
• January 15 - Manfred Borner, German physicist (b. 1929)
• January 15 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
• January 17 – Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936)
• January 18 – Jos Kunst, Dutch composer (b. 1936)
• January 18 - Leonor Fini, Argentine painter (b. 1907)
• January 18 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor (b. 1923)
• January 20 - Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
• January 20 – Jef Mermans, Belgian footballer (b. 1922)
• January 21 - Luther Boyd Eubanks, American judge (b. 1917)
• January 23 – Fatima Rushdi, Egyptian actress (b. 1908)
• January 25 - Jonathan Larson, American composer (b. 1960)
• January 26 - Charles Jewtraw, American speed skater (b. 1900)
• January 28 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian writer (b. 1940)
• January 28 - San Yu, President of Myanmar (b. 1918)
• January 28 - D. K. Barooah, Indian politician (b. 1914)
• January 28 – Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)

February

Gene Kelly

Audrey Meadows

Guy Madison

Martin Balsam

Bob Paisley

McLean Stevenson

Pat Brown

Audrey Munson

Haing S. Ngor

• February 1 – Sergey Aganov, Soviet Marshal (b. 1917)
• February 1 – Adel Adham, Egyptian actor (b. 1928)
• February 2 – Gene Kelly, American actor (b. 1912)
• February 3 – Edward Adamson, British artist (b. 1911)
• February 3 – Audrey Meadows, American actress (b. 1922)
• February 4 – Manuel Fábregas, Spanish actor (b. 1921)
• February 4 – Willard S. Curtin, American politician (b. 1905)
• February 5 – Avis Dolphin, Survivor of the Singking of the RMS Lusitania (b. 1902)
• February 6 – Knut Blom, Norwegian judge (b. 1916)
• February 6 – Guy Madison, American film actor (b. 1922)
• February 8 – Mercer Ellington, American musician (b. 1919)
• February 9 – Adolf Galland, German general (b. 1912)
• February 9 – Yun Chi-young, Korean politician (b. 1898)
• February 11 – Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)
• February 12 – Andrea Barbato, Italian journalist (b. 1934)
• February 13 – Martin Balsam, American actor (b. 1919)
• February 14 – Bob Paisley, English football manager (b. 1919)
• February 14 – McLean Stevenson, American actor (b. 1929)
• February 15 – Tommy Rettig, American child actor (b. 1941)
• February 16 – Pat Brown, 32nd Governor of California (b. 1905)
• February 17 – Evelyn Laye, English actress (b. 1900)
• February 20 – Audrey Munson, American artist's model (b. 1891)
• February 21 – Priscilla Bonner, American film actress (b. 1899)
• February 21 – Morton Gould, American musician and composer (b. 1913)
• February 23 – William Bonin, American serial killer (b. 1947)
• February 23 – Helmut Schoen, German football coach (b. 1915)
• February 24 – Akram al-Hawrani, Syrian politician (b. 1912)
• February 25 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian actor (b. 1940)
• February 27 – Sarah Palfrey Cooke, American tennis player (b. 1912)

March

Jacobo Majluta Azar

Minnie Pearl

George Burns

Lucio Fulci

Krzysztof Kieślowski

René Clément

Odysseas Elytis

Edmund Muskie

Mohamed Sedki Sulayman

• March 2 - Lyle Talbot, American actor (b. 1902)
• March 2 – Jacobo Majluta Azar, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1934)
• March 3 – Marguerite Duras, French novelist (b. 1914)
• March 4 – Minnie Pearl, American comedian (b. 1912)
• March 5 – Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, President of Bangladesh (b. 1918)
• March 9 – George Burns, American actor and singer (b. 1896)
• March 9 – Mohammed al-Ghazali, Egyptian author (b. 1917)
• March 10 – Ross Hunter, American film producer (b. 1920)
• March 11 – Vincent Edwards, American actor (b. 1928)
• March 13 – Lucio Fulci, Italian film director (b. 1927)
• March 13 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish movie director (b. 1941)
• March 17 - René Clément, French movie director (b. 1913)
• March 17 – Andre Melendez, American serial killer (b. 1971)
• March 17 – Anil Chatterjee, Indian actor (b. 1929)
• March 18 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer (b. 1911)
• March 18 – Niní Marshall, Argentine actress (b. 1903)
• March 19 – Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician (b. 1933)
• March 26 – Edmund Muskie, American politician (b. 1914)
• March 26 – Victor L. Brown, Mormon leader (b. 1914)
• March 28 - Mohamed Sedki Sulayman, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1919)
• March 31 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer (b. 1958)

April

Greer Garson

Lucille Bremer

Dzhokhar Dudayev

P. L. Travers

Siti Hartinah

• April 2 – Alfredo Nobre da Costa, Portuguese politician (b. 1923)
• April 3 – Ron Brown, American politician (b. 1941)
• April 6 – Greer Garson, British actress (b. 1904)
• April 8 – Donald Adams, English opera singer (b. 1928)
• April 13 – Aung Khin, Burmese painter (b. 1921)
• April 15 – Beatriz Costa, Portuguese actress (b. 1907)
• April 16 – Lucille Bremer, American actress (b. 1927)
• April 16 – Irasema Dilián, Italian actress (b. 1924)
• January 19 – Don Simpson, American film producer (b. 1943)
• April 20 – Christopher Robin Milne, British writer and bookseller (b. 1920)
• April 21 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen politician (b. 1944)
• April 22 – Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer (b. 1927)
• April 23 – P. L. Travers, Australian writer (b. 1899)
• April 25 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer (b. 1920)
• June 27 – Albert R. Broccoli, American movie producer (b. 1909)
• April 28 – Siti Hartinah, First Lady of Indonesia (b. 1923)

May

Narciso G. Reyes

Nnamdi Azikiwe

Tamara Toumanova

Timothy Leary

• May 1 – David M. Kennedy, American politician (b. 1905)
• May 1 – Herbert Brownell Jr., United States Attorney General (b. 1904)
• May 1 – François Chalais, French reporter (b. 1919)
• May 2 – Hamlet Mkhitaryan, Armenian football player (b. 1962)
• May 3 – Alex Kellner, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• May 3 – Zouzou Nabil, Egyptian actress (b. 1920)
• May 6 – Wally Nightingale, English guitarist (b. 1956)
• May 7 - Narciso G. Reyes, Secretary-General of ASEAN (b. 1914)
• May 11 – Nnamdi Azikiwe, 1st President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
• May 11 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1921)
• May 19 – Johnny Berardino, American infielder in Major League Baseball (b. 1917)
• May 20 – Jon Pertwee, English actor (b. 1919)
• May 25 – Bradley Nowell, American musician (b. 1968)
• May 29 - Tamara Toumanova, Russian ballet dancer (b. 1919)
• May 31 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist (b. 1904)

June

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Jo Van Fleet

Ella Fitzgerald

Andreas Papandreou

• June 1 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, President of India (b. 1913)
• June 3 – Peter Bird, British ocean rower (b. 1947)
• June 5 - Hartono Rekso Dharsono, Secretary-General of ASEAN (b. 1925)
• June 5 – Jan Kerouac, American writer (b. 1952)
• June 6 – Kusuo Kitamura, Japanese swimmer (b. 1917)
• June 6 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist (b. 1923)
• June 7 - Max Factor, Jr., American businessman (b. 1904)
• June 10 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (b. 1915)
• June 11 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (b. 1906)
• June 15 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
• June 15 – Piet Bambergen, Dutch actor (b. 1931)
• June 16 – Élie Castor, French Politician (b. 1943)
• June 19 – Edvin Wide, Swedish long-distance runner (b. 1896)
• June 23 – Salah Abu Seif, Egyptian film director (b. 1915)
• June 23 – Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
• June 26 – Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (b. 1958)

July

Margaux Hemingway

Claudette Colbert

• July 1 – William T. Cahill, American politician (b. 1912)
• July 1 – Margaux Hemingway, American fashion model (b. 1955)
• July 3 – Raaj Kumar, Indian film actor (b. 1926)
• July 8 - Prince Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1905)
• July 9 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (b. 1907)
• July 9 – Aurora Redondo, Spanish actress (b. 1900)
• July 13 – Pandro S. Berman, American film producer (b. 1905)
• July 15 – Dana Hill, American actress (b. 1964)
• July 16 - John Panozzo, American drummer (b. 1948)
• July 21 – Luana Anders, American film actress (b. 1938)
• July 29 – Bill Jackowski, American baseball umpire (b. 1914)
• July 30 – Claudette Colbert, American actress (b. 1903)

August

Frida Boccara

Tadeus Reichstein

Mohamed Farrah Aidid

Michel Debré

Obdulio Varela

Muhammad al-Badr

António de Spínola

Alejandro Agustín Lanusse

• August 1 – Frida Boccara, French singer (b. 1940)
• August 1 – Tadeus Reichstein, Polish chemist (b. 1897)
• August 1 – Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian physician (b. 1929)
• August 1 - Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somalian military officer (b. 1934)
• August 2 – Michel Debré, Prime Minister of France (b. 1912)
• August 2 – Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1917)
• August 4 – Aldo Cucinelli, Italian politician (b. 1922)
• August 6 - King Muhammad al-Badr of Yemen (b. 1926)
• August 8 – Nevill Francis Mott, British physicist (b. 1905)
• August 9 – Derek Smith, American basketball player (b. 1961)
• August 10 – Bunleua Sulilat, Thai sculpture artist (b. 1932)
• August 11 – Rafael Kubelík, Czech conductor (b. 1914)
• August 13 – David Tudor, American pianist (b. 1926).
• August 13 – António de Spínola, President of Portugal (b. 1910)
• August 24 – Saleh Morsi, Egyptian screenwriter (b. 1929)
• August 26 – Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, President of Argentina (b. 1918)
• August 27 – Greg Morris, American actor (b. 1933)
• August 31 – Milt Larkin, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1910)

September

Ernesto Geisel

Spiro Agnew

Paul Erdős

Dorothy Lamour

Geoffrey Wilkinson

Mohammad Najibullah

• September 1 – Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (b. 1909)
• September 1 – Karl Kehrle, German benedictine monk (b. 1898)
• September 6 – Barney McCosky, American baseball player (b. 1917)
• September 10 – Joanne Dru, American actress (b. 1923)
• September 10 – Hans List, Austrian scientist (b. 1896)
• September 10 – Latifa al-Zayyat, Egyptian writer (b. 1923)
• September 12 – Ernesto Geisel, President of Brazil (b. 1907)
• September 13 – Tupac Shakur, American rap singer (b. 1971)
• September 14 – Juliet Prowse, British actress (b. 1937)
• September 17 – Spiro Agnew, 39th Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
• September 18 – Annabella, French actress (b. 1907)
• September 20 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1913)
• September 20 – Murtaza Bhutto, Pakistani Politician (b. 1954)
• September 20 – Reuben Kamenga, 1st Vice president of Zambia (b. 1929)
• September 21 – Ashoke Kumar Sen, Indian politician (b. 1913)
• September 22 – Dorothy Lamour, American actress (b. 1914)
• September 22 – Mohamed Ben Ahmed Abdelghani, Prime Minister of Algeria (b. 1927)
• September 26 – Pavel Sudoplatov, Soviet general (b. 1907)
• September 26 – Nicu Ceaușescu, Romanian politician (b. 1951)
• September 26 – Geoffrey Wilkinson, English chemist (b. 1921)
• September 27 – Mohammad Najibullah, President of Afghanistan (b. 1947)

October

Silvio Piola

Johnny Costa

René Lacoste

Morey Amsterdam

• October 2 – Emiel van Lennep, Dutch diplomat (b. 1915)
• October 4 – Silvio Piola, Italian footballer (b. 1913)
• October 4 – Joe Hoerner, American baseball player (b. 1936)
• October 4 – Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese movie director (b. 1916)
• October 5 – Judith Allen, American actress (b. 1911)
• October 5 – Seymour Cray, American electrical engineer (b. 1925)
• October 11 – Pierre Grimal, French historian (b. 1912)
• October 11 – Johnny Costa, American jazz pianist (b. 1922)
• October 12 – René Lacoste, French tennis player (b. 1904)
• October 12 – Nina Alisova, Soviet actress (b. 1915)
• October 14 – Laura La Plante, American actress (b. 1904)
• October 16 – Huang Shao-ku, Taiwanese politician (b. 1901)
• October 24 – Sorley MacLean, Scottish poet (b. 1911)
• October 26 – Arthur L. Andrews, Chief Master Sergeant of the United States (b. 1934)
• October 26 – Chito Zeballos, Argentinian guitarist (b. 1936)
• October 27 – Morey Amsterdam, American actor and comedian (b. 1908)
• October 31 – Arthur Peterson, American actor (b. 1912)

November

J. R. Jayewardene

Jean-Bédel Bokassa

Abdus Salam

Tiny Tim

• November 1 – Maati Bouabid, Prime Minister of Morocco (b. 1927)
• November 1 – J. R. Jayewardene, President of Sri Lanka (b. 1906)
• November 2 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (b. 1963)
• November 3 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, President of the Central African Republic (b. 1921)
• November 3 – Wim Hornman, Dutch writer (b. 1920)
• November 5 – Bunny Breckinridge, American actor (b. 1903)
• November 5 – Eddie Harris, American jazz musician (b. 1934)
• November 15 – Alger Hiss, US State Department official (b. 1904)
• November 17 – Fabrizio De Chiara, Italian boxer (b. 1971)
• November 21 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist (b. 1926)
• November 30 – Tiny Tim, American musician (b. 1932)

December

Marcello Mastroianni

Carl Sagan

• December 3 – Babrak Karmal, President of Afghanistan (b. 1929)
• December 6 – Pete Rozelle, American businessman (b. 1926)
• December 6 – Abd al-Hamid Kishk, Egyptian preacher (b. 1933)
• December 8 – Howard Rollins, American actor (b. 1950)
• December 8 - Kashiwado Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1938)
• December 9 – Mary Leakey, British archaeologist (b. 1913)
• December 9 – Alain Poher, interim President of France (b. 1909)
• December 10 – Faron Young, American musician (b. 1932)
• December 11 – Masumi Esaki, Japanese Politician (b. 1915)
• December 13 – Cao Yu, Chinese playwright (b. 1910)
• December 15 – Tristan Keuris, Dutch composer (b. 1946)
• December 19 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (b. 1924)
• December 20 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer (b. 1934)
• December 24 – Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, Vietnamese politician (b. 1910)
• December 25 - JonBenét Ramsey, Child model (b. 1990)
• December 30 – Lew Ayres, American actor (b. 1908)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics: David M. Lee, Douglas Orsheroff, Robert C. Richardson
• Chemistry: Robert Curl, Harold Kroto, Richard Smalley
• Medicine: Peter C. Doherty, Rolf M. Zinkernagel
• Literature: Wislawa Szymborska
• Nobel Peace Prize: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jose Ramos Horta
• Economics: James Mirrlees, William Vickrey

Movies released

• 101 Dalmatians
• 12 Monkeys
• A Time to Kill
• Daylight
• Eraser
• Fargo
• Island of Dr. Moreau
• Independence Day
• Jerry Maguire
• Matilda
• Mission: Impossible
• Ransom
• Romeo and Juliet
• Sling Blade
• Space Jam
• The Birdcage
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• The Nutty Professor
• The Rock
• Trainspotting
• Twister

Hit songs

• "Angry Johnny" – Poe
• "Macarena" – Los Del Rio
• "Professional Widow (Star Trunk Funkin' Mix)" – Tori Amos
• "Wonderwall" – Oasis
• "6th Avenue Heartache" – The Wallflowers
• "Aeroplane" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "All Mixed Up" – 311
• "California Love" – 2Pac
• "Can't Get You Off My Mind" – Lenny Kravitz
• "Change the World" – Eric Clapton
• "Down" – 311
• "Free As A Bird" – The Beatles
• "Give Me One Reason" – Tracy Chapman
• "Head Over Feet" – Alanis Morissette
• "How Do U Want It" – 2Pac
• "I Want To Come Over" – Melissa Etheridge
• "If It Makes You Happy" – Sheryl Crow
• "The Beautiful People" – Marilyn Manson
• "Wash Away" – Vertical Horizon
• "You Learn" – Alanis Morissette

New books

• Absolute Power – David Baldacci
• Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood
• Bandarshah – Al-Tayyib Salih
• By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee – Tama Janowitz
• Excession – Iain M. Banks
• Executive Orders – Tom Clancy
• Feet of Clay – Terry Pratchett
• Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
• Fighting for Canada (Maîtres Chanteurs Chez Nous!) – Diane Francis
• A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
• The Fourth Estate – Jeffrey Archer
• Gods and Generals – Jeff Shaara
• The Goldberg Variations – Nancy Huston
• The Gun Seller – Hugh Laurie
• Hackers – short story collection
• Hogfather – Terry Pratchett
• How Stella Got Her Groove Back – Terry McMillan
• Intensity – Dean R. Koontz
• Kiki's Memoirs – Kiki, (translation by Samuel Putnam)
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt
• Moonlight Becomes You – Mary Higgins Clark
• Polaroids From The Dead – Douglas Coupland
• Primary Colors – Joe Klein as "Anonymous"
• The Runaway Jury – John Grisham
• Selected Stories – Mavis Gallant
• Sofia; The Sultan's Daughter – Ann Chamberlin
• The Tailor of Panama – John le Carré
• The Tenth Insight – James Redfield
• Undaunted Courage – Stephen Ambrose
• A Vicious Circle – Amanda Craig

Other websites

Media related to 1996 at Wikimedia Commons