1996 In the UK Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales get divorced and Mad Cow Disease hits Britain ( BSE ) causing the mass slaughter of Herds of Cows and a laws to stop beef being sold on the bone. A severe Meningitas Epidemic occurs in West Africa. In technology DVD's are Launched in Japan and the number of users on the Internet exceed 10 million This is also the year Ebay and Ask Jeeves is started and the first ever cloning of a mammal Dolly the sheep.

Cost of Living 1996

How Much things cost in 1996
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 2.93%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 6448
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 8.25%
Average Cost of new house $118,200.00
Average Income per year $36,300.00
Average Monthly Rent $554.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.22
US Postage Stamp 32 cents
Average cost of new car $16,300.00
Loaf of Bread $1.15

Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling
Average House Price 69,453
Gallon of Petrol 2.70
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 2.4%
Interest Rates Year End Bank of England 5.94%
FTSE 100 Average 3800

Events 1996

  • Militant Taliban Forces Capture Kabul and declare Fundamentalist Islamic State of Afghanistan


  • Osama Bin Laden is expelled from Sudan and moves to Afghanistan


  • France halts Nuclear testing in Pacific


  • Divers discover the ancient port of Alexandria


  • US eases sanctions against Cuba


  • Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States


  • The Dunblane Massacre Hamilton opened fire on a class of 5-6 year olds, killing or wounding every person present bar one pupil. Fifteen children and a teacher (Mrs Gwen Mayor) died at the scene.


  • Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kills 600.


  • Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales get divorced


  • Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan questions whether the stock market is overvalued


  • Mad Cow Disease hits Britain ( Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE )


  • Category 4 Cyclone strikes India. The storm surge sweeps fishing villages out to sea, over 2,000 persons die.


  • The U.S. stock markets, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gains at an incredibly fast pace and ends the year over the 6,000 mark


  • Jumbo Jet bursts into flames shortly after takeoff and crashes into the ocean off Long Island


  • Meningitas Epidemic in West Africa


  • Overloaded ferry sinks in Sumatra, Indonesia,


  • 38 Million Acres of Rain Forest are destroyed annually by timber cutting


  • Bombing on Paris Subway kills 2 and injures 128


  • The IRA plants a bomb that explodes in the Docklands area of London


  • 30 Black churches in Mississippi are burned to the ground the previous 18 months is now 37


  • The Williamette Valley Flood, sweeps through the Pacific Northwest


  • Gunman "Martin Bryant" shoot and kills 35 in the tourist town of Port Arthur, Tasmania.


  • Israel carries out air strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut as part of "Operation Grapes of Wrath"


  • The Summer Olympics are held in Atlanta United States


  • Gunmen kill 17 Greek Tourists outside the Europa Hotel in Cairo


  • Peruvian guerrillas take hundreds of people hostage at the official residence of Japan's ambassador to Peru in Lima.


  • The supertanker, the Sea Empress, runs aground on the welsh coast, spilling 70,000 tons of crude oil


Technology

  • DVD's Launched in Japan


  • In 12 months number of Internet host computers goes from 1 million to 10 million


  • Windows NT 4.0 released by Microsoft


  • Internet Explorer 3 web browser released


  • Ebay started the online auction and shopping website, where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide.


  • The first version of the Java programming language is released.


  • Duke Nukem 3D Shareware released to public


  • Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned


  • Ask Jeeves formed.


  • Global Warming shows a record high


  • IBM's Deep Blue defeats Chess Champion Gary Kasparov for the first time


  • Ozone layer over the Arctic continues to be depleted


  • American Pathfinder launched on its 310 million mile mission to Mars


  • The Worlds Largest Container Vessel The Regina Maersk begins operation



Popular Culture 1996

Popular Films

  • Independence Day
  • Twister
  • Mission: Impossible
  • Jerry Maguire
  • 101 Dalmatians
  • The Rock
  • The Nutty Professor
  • The Birdcage
  • A Time to Kill
  • The English Patient
  • Star Trek: First Contact

What do you remember ? Did you go to a Concert that year ?
Please take the time to post your memory on this Page

Popular Musicians

  • Mariah Carey
  • Eric Clapton
  • Blur
  • Dalida
  • Jamiroquai
  • Snoop Doggy Dogg
  • Oasis
  • Madonna
  • Metallica
  • Gravity Kills
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • 2Pac
  • The Wallflowers
  • Sheryl Crow
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • The Smashing Pumpkins
  • Marilyn Manson
  • Alanis Morissette
  • Lenny Kravitz
  • Foo Fighters
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