- 1996 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year
1996 in theUnited Kingdom .Incumbents
*Monarch -
HM Queen Elizabeth II
*Prime Minister -John Major , ConservativeEvents
*
18 January - Six major environmental organisations add their support to the campaign over theNewbury By-pass inBerkshire . [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/18/newsid_2530000/2530307.stm|title="1996: Green groups join bypass battle", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*5 February - the firstgenetically modified food products go on sale in the UK. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/5/newsid_4647000/4647390.stm|title="1996: First GM food goes on sale in UK", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*9 February
** a large bomb explodes in theLondon Docklands area, near toSouth Quay DLR station , killing two people and injuring up to 40. The bomb was the responsibility of the IRA, and marks the end of a 17-month ceasefire. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/10/newsid_2539000/2539265.stm|title="1996: Docklands bomb ends IRA ceasefire", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
** TheParole Board goes public with its recommendation that Moors MurdererMyra Hindley should be moved to an open prison. Hindley, 53 and in her 30th year of imprisonment, is currently being held at Durham Prison, but ifHome Secretary Michael Howard backs the Parole Board's recommendation, Hindley could soon be transferred to a prison with a more relaxed regime.
*15 February - A report on theArms-to-Iraq affair is critical of government ministers. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/15/newsid_2544000/2544355.stm|title="1996: Arms-to-Iraq report published", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*18 February - a bomb explodes on aLondon bus inCentral London , killing the IRA bomber transporting the device, and injuring several people. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/18/newsid_4165000/4165719.stm|title="1996: Bomb blast destroys London bus", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*13 March - TheDunblane massacre - A gunman kills 16 children, their teacher and himself at a primary school inDunblane , Stirling. The killer, who wounded 13 other children and another teacher, is quickly identified as 43-year-old former scout leader Thomas Hamilton. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13/newsid_2543000/2543277.stm|title="1996: Massacre in Dunblane school gym", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*2 May -The Football Association confirms thatGlenn Hoddle will be appointed as coach of theEngland national football team after the upcoming European Championships.
*27 May - The reconstruction ofWilliam Shakespeare 'sGlobe Theatre opens inLondon .cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
*30 May - The Duke and Duchess of York complete their divorce proceedings.
*8 June - TheUEFA Euro 1996 , hosted byEngland begins. The first match, England vs Switzerland takes place at Wembley Stadium,London . It ends in a 1-1 draw.
*13 June -Guernsey legalisesabortion , 86 years after it was criminalised on the island.
*15 June - A massive IRA bomb explodes inManchester city centre, devastating the city's commercial district. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/15/newsid_2527000/2527009.stm|title="1996: Huge explosion rocks central Manchester", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*30 June - Germany wins the European Championship final with a 2-1 victory over Czech Republic at Wembley.
*5 July -Dolly the sheep , the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born at theRoslin Institute in Scotland,
*8 July
** Three young children and four adults are attacked by a man with a machete at a nursery school in theBlakenhall area ofWolverhampton . [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/8/newsid_2496000/2496685.stm|title="1996: Seven slashed in school machete attack", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
** TheSpice Girls first single "Wannabe" is released.
*10 July - Police find the bodies of 45-year-old Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan near village ofNonington inKent . Lin's other daughter, nine-year-old Josie, survived the attack with massive head injuries. The killer is believed to have performed the attack with a hammer. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/10/newsid_2499000/2499209.stm|title="1996: Girl survives murder of mother and sister", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*15 July -Horrett Campbell , 33, is arrested on seven counts of attempted murder following last week's machete attack at a Wolverhampton nursery school.
*19 July –9 August - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, Georgia ,United States , and win 1 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze medals.
*29 July -Alan Shearer becomes the world's most expensive footballer whenNewcastle United F.C. pay £15 million for him.
*28 August - The Prince and Princess of Wales complete their divorce proceedings. The Princess of Wales loses her style of "Royal Highness" and assumes the style, Diana, Princess of Wales.
* September - Ford launches its revolutionary new Ka city car, which makes use of a shortened Fiesta chassis.
*13 October - Racing driverDamon Hill wins the Japanese Grand Prix thus clinching the Drivers' World Championship.
*16 October - The Government announces plans to ban handguns in the UK, following theDunblane massacre . [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/16/newsid_3110000/3110949.stm|title="1996: Handguns to be banned in the UK", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*18 November - Channel Tunnel fire.
*30 November - TheStone of Scone is installed inEdinburgh Castle 700 years after it was removed fromScotland by KingEdward I of England .
*1 December -Lee Harvey , a 25-year-oldAlvechurch man, is stabbed to death in a reportedroad rage attack on a country lane nearRedditch inWorcestershire .
*9 December - A jury atStafford Crown Court findsHorrett Campbell guilty on all seven counts of attempted murder relating to theWolverhampton nursery machete attack five months previously. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/9/newsid_2543000/2543755.stm|title="1996: Guilty verdict on school machete attacker", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*10 December
**James Mirrlees wins theNobel Prize in Economics jointly withWilliam Vickrey "for their fundamental contributions to the economic theory of incentives under asymmetric information". [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1996/index.html|title=The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1996|accessdate=2008-02-03]
**Harold Kroto wins theNobel Prize in Chemistry jointly withRobert Curl andRichard Smalley "for their discovery of fullerenes". [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996|accessdate=2008-02-03]
*19 December -Lee Harvey 's girlfriendTracie Andrews is charged with his murder, less than three weeks after his death was reported as the result of a "road rage" attack. She is freed on bail.Publications
*
Iain M. Banks ' novel "Excession ".
*Seamus Deane 's novel "Reading in the Dark ".
*Terry Pratchett 'sDiscworld novels "Feet of Clay " and "Hogfather "; and hisJohnny Maxwell novel "Johnny and the Bomb ".
*Graham Swift 's novel "Last Orders ".Births
*
Samuel Chatto , son ofLady Sarah Chatto andDaniel Chatto
*Cassius Taylor , son ofLady Helen Taylor
*Alexander Ogilvy , son of James OgilvyDeaths
*
11 February -Cyril Poole , cricketer (born 1921)
*14 February -Bob Paisley , footballer and football manager (born 1919)
*27 February -Pat Smythe , show jumper (born 1928)
*25 March -John Snagge , radio personality (born 1904)
*20 April -Christopher Robin Milne , author and bookseller (born 1920)
*20 May -Jon Pertwee , actor (born 1919)
*2 June -Leon Garfield , children's author (born 1921)
*4 August -Geoff Hamilton , television presenter (born 1936)
*9 August -Frank Whittle , RAF officer and inventor (born 1907)
*13 October -Beryl Reid , actress (born 1919)
*16 October -Eric Malpass , novelist (born 1910)
*26 November -Michael Bentine , comedian and comic actor (born 1922)
*9 December -Mary Leakey , archaeologist (born 1913)
*11 December -Willie Rushton , comedian, actor, and cartoonist (born 1937)
*11 December -W. G. G. Duncan Smith , World War II pilot (born 1914)
*16 December -Quentin Bell , biographer and art historian (born 1910)References
ee also
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