- February 17
- In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Garry Kasparov beats IBM's "Deep Blue" computer in a second chess match. [28]
- February 22
- Disney launches the Disney.com web site on the Internet. Primary purpose of the site is to provide travel info on Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and to promote Disney merchandise. [6]
- February 24
- Cuba downs two US planes. [1]
- February 26
- Silicon Graphics makes a cash tender offer of US$30 per share for 75 percent of Cray Research stock, for a total cost of US$576 million. The merger is expected to be completed by June. [4]
- February 28
- 38th Grammy Awards: "Jagged Little Pill" - Alanis Morisette wins. [1]
- February 29
- In Lumberton, North Carolina, Daniel Green is convicted of the murder of James Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan. [28]
- March 1
- New toll-free 888 area code introduced in North America. [1]
- March 10
- 22nd People's Choice Awards: Apollo 13, Tom Hanks win. [1]
- March 19
- A barge ruptures as it sails through the Houston Ship Channel, spilling about 16,000 litres of fuel oil, creating an 8km oil slick in Galveston Bay, Texas. [522]
- March 20
- In Los Angeles, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents. [1] [28]
- The Federal Reserve begins issuing new Series 1996 $100 Notes, featuring many significant changes over the previous design: offset and larger portrait of Benjamin Franklin, universal Federal Reserve seal, watermark of Franklin, fluorescent colored thread indicating the denomination, microprinting in different areas, fine-line printing behind portrait and back vignette, and color-shiting ink (green to black) in the "100" on the bottom-right of the face. [525.126]
- March 22
- Cheryl Depew, of Florida, crowned 13th Miss Hawaiian Tropic International. [1]
- Capcom releases the Resident Evil game for the PlayStation in the US. The game innovates by creating the survival-horror genre. (Total sales: over two million copies.) [9]
- STS 76 (Atlantis 16), launches into orbit. [1]
- March 24
- 16th Golden Raspberry Awards: Showgirls wins. [1]
- March 25
- 68th Academy Awards: Braveheart, Nicholas Cage and Susan Sarandon win. [1]
- US issues newly-redesigned $100 bill. [1]
- An armed standoff between antigovernment Freemen in Jordan, Montana, and US federal officers begins. The standoff lasts 81 days. [28]
- March 28
- Katie Beam, 17, of Oklahoma, crowned 35th Miss Teenage America. [1]
- March 29
- 10th Soul Train Music Awards: Patti Labelle, Boyz II Men win. [1]
- April 2
- U.S. Mafioso John Gotti is found guilty of murdering Paul Castellano. [28]
- April 3
- Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin. [28]
- A plane carrying United States Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashes near Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing him. [1] [28]
- April 11
- King and I premieres at Neil Simon Theater in New York City for 781 performances. [1]
- April 12
- Jessica Dubroff, aged 7, is killed in a crash near Cheyenne, Wyoming, while attempting to set a record as the youngest person to pilot an airplane across the United States. [28]
- April 24
- 31st Academy of Country Music Awards: Shania Twain wins. [1]
- May 10
- Two US Marine helicopters collide during joint US and British war games. [1]
- May 11
- After takeoff from Miami, Florida, a fire started by improperly-handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board. [1] [28]
- May 13
- OJ Simpson appears on British TV discussing his not guilty verdict. [1]
- May 20
- The Supreme Court of the United States rules (Romer v. Evans) against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of homosexuals. [28]
- May 21
- Auctions by Bowers and Merena sells the Louis Eliasberg US 1913 Liberty Head nickel for US$1.485 million, a record for a single coin at auction. [486.64] [495.36] [525.78]
- May 25
- Jennifer Maria Holsten, 18, crowned Miss Filipino-American. [1]
- May 30
- 69th US National Spelling Bee: Wendy Guey wins spelling "vivisepulture". [1]
- June 10
- In the Andreanof Islands, Alaska, magnitude 7.9 and 7.3 earthquakes occurs. [53]
- June 12
- In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet. The panel says that the 1996 Communications Decency Act would infringe upon the free speech rights of adults. [28]
- June 13
- An 81-day standoff between the Montana Freemen and FBI agents ends with their surrender in Montana. [28]
- (month unknown)
- Thirteen Boston College football players are suspended after betting on college and professional games. [328.38]
- July 11
- Legislation is introduced in Congress to propose the 50 States Coin Program. [391.78]
- July 17
- Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 (Boeing 747) explodes off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board. [28]
- July 19
- (to August 4) Games of the XXVI Olympiad are held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. [1] [7] [28]
- July 27
- The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta kills one and injures 111. [28]
- July 29
- The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court. [28]
- August 6
- NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms. [28]
- August 15
- Bob Dole is nominated for President of the USA, and Jack Kemp for Vice President, at the Republican National Convention in San Diego, California. [28]
- August 23
- Osama bin Laden allegedly writes "The Declaration of Jihad on the Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Sacred Places," his first open call for war. [28]
- August 24
- Microsoft releases Windows NT 4.0, with graphical user interface similar to that of Windows 95. The software comprises 16.5 million lines of code. Code-name during development was Cairo. [4]
- August 29
- U.S. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are re-nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. [28]
- September 3
- The U.S. launches Operation Desert Strike against Iraq in reaction to the attack on Arbil. [28]
- Nintendo releases the Game Boy Pocket portable game system in the USA. [9]
- September 7
- Rap legend Tupac Shakur is shot in Las Vegas, Nevada, following the Mike Tyson bout; he dies on September 13. [28]
- September 11
- Union Pacific Railroad purchases Southern Pacific Railroad. [5]
- September 16
- Microsoft unveils Windows CE operating system for handheld computers. Code-name of the project was Pegasus. "CE" stands for Consumer Electronics. [4]
- The Space Shuttle STS 79 (Atlantis 17) launches into space. [5]
- September 24
- U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations. [28]
- September 25
- IBM launches OS/2 Warp 4, in San Francisco, California. New features include Java technology, voice recognition software, and Open32 Win32 APIs. Price is US$249; upgrade is US$149. It is the first operating system to include built-in speech navigation and recognition. [4]
- September 29
- Nintendo releases the Nintendo 64 video game system and Super Mario 64 video game in North America. Price is US$199.95. (350,000 sell out in the first three days.) [9]
- September 30
- Congress passes the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997; the Bureau of the Mint is renamed the United States Mint. [525.193]
- October 2
- The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton. [5] [28]
- October 4
- Death of Larry Gene Bell, American child murderer (executed by electric chair). [28]
- October 14
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 40.62 to close at 6,010.00, the Dow's first close above 6,000. [28]
- October 23
- The O.J. Simpson civil trial begins in Santa Monica, California. [28]
- November 5
- U.S. presidential election: Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton defeats Republican challenger Bob Dole to win his second term. [28]
- November 7
- NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor. [5] [28]
- November 16
- Mother Teresa receives honorary U.S. citizenship. [28]
- November 21
- A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33. [28]
- November 25
- The Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland gives its final performance. The parade made over 3500 trips, to an estimated 75 million guests. [6]
- December 4
- NASA's first Mars rover launched from Cape Canaveral. [1]
- December 16
- Sotheby's sells at auction Sam Bloomfield's USA 1907 Saint-Gaudens $20 gold coin, Ultra High Relief, Roman Numerals, Proof, for US$825,000. [525.79] [607.30]
- December 17
- At the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the "Option Red" supercomputer is started up, performing one trillion floating-point operations per second, making it the fastest computer in the world. The US$55 million computer uses 9072 Intel Pentium Pro processors with 600 GB memory and 2 terabyte disc storage. [4]
- December 18
- American TV industry executives agree to adopt a ratings system. [1]
- December 20
- Apple Computer announces it will buy the NeXT Software company for about US$400 million in cash and Apple stock. NeXT Software CEO Steve Jobs will become an advisor to Apple chairman and CEO Gilbert Amelio. [4] [28]
- December 31
- The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway is merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, making it one of the largest railroad mergers in U.S. history. [28]
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