- 1996 in science
The year 1996 in
science andtechnology involved many significant events, listed below.Astronomy and space exploration
*
January 30 -Comet Hyakutake was discovered.
*February 17 -NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft launched. The spacecraft landed on theasteroid 433 Eros in 2001.
*May 20 - First naked eye observation ofComet Hale-Bopp .
*November 7 -NASA launches theMars Global Surveyor .
* The second 9.8 mreflecting telescope opens atKeck Observatory ,Mauna Kea ,Hawaii .Biology
*
July 5 -Dolly the sheep , the firstmammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born.
*August 6 -NASA announces that theALH 84001 meteorite thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
*Theyeast "Saccharomyces cerevisiae 's"genome is sequenced, it is the first eukaryotic genome to be fully sequenced.Computer science
*
January 23 - The first version of the Java programming language is released.
*February 10 - Deep Blue defeatschess grand-masterGarry Kasparov for the first time.
*Lov Grover , atBell Labs , published the quantum database search algorithm.
*IRCNet is founded.Exploration
*
May 23 - SwedeGöran Kropp reachesMount Everest summit alone withoutoxygen after havingbicycle d there fromSweden .Meteorology
*
January 7 - A largeblizzard hits the EasternUnited States , killing more than 100.
*May 13 - Severethunderstorm s and atornado inBangladesh kills 600.
*July 18 - 21 - Storms provoke severeflood ing on theSaguenay River inQuebec , in one ofCanada 's most costlynatural disaster s.Technology
* Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the United States. Broadcasters, TV & PC manufacturers set industry standards for digital HDTV.
* APSfilm format is introduced.
* Successful demonstration ofmagnetic refrigeration .Awards
*
Nobel Prize
** Physics:David M. Lee ,Douglas D. Osheroff ,Robert C. Richardson
** Chemistry:Robert Curl , SirHarold Kroto ,Richard Smalley
** Medicine:Peter C. Doherty ,Rolf M. Zinkernagel
*Turing Award for Computing:Amir Pnueli
*Wollaston Medal for Geology:Nicholas John Shackleton Births
*
July 5 -Dolly the sheep (d. 2003), the world's first clonedmammal .Deaths
*
January 12 -Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (b. 1903),mathematician .
*March 26 -David Packard (b. 1912),engineer .
*June 17 -Thomas Kuhn (b. 1922),philosopher ofscience .
*August 1 -Tadeus Reichstein (b. 1897),Nobel Prize -winningchemist .
*September 20 -Paul Erdős (b. 1913),mathematician .
*December 20 -Carl Sagan (b. 1934),astronomer .
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