On this day in 1996, track and field legend Carl Lewis wins his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the long jump. It was the ninth and final Olympic gold of his storied career. Frederick Carlton Lewis was born July 11, 1961, in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in a middle-class […]
Continue ReadingYearly Archives: 1996
Bombing At Centennial Olympic Park
In Atlanta, Georgia, the XXVI Summer Olympiad is disrupted by the explosion of a nail-laden pipe bomb in Centennial Olympic Park. The bombing, which occurred during a free concert, killed a mother who had brought her daughter to hear the rock music and injured more than 100 others, including a […]
Continue ReadingU.S. Women Take Home Gymnastics Gold
On July 23, 1996, at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team wins its first-ever team gold. The 1996 U.S. women’s team, nicknamed the “Mag 7″ or “magnificent seven,” was made up of seven immensely talented teenaged girls: Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, […]
Continue ReadingFlight 800 Explodes Over Long Island
Shortly after takeoff from New York’s Kennedy International Airport, a TWA Boeing 747 jetliner bound for Paris explodes over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 230 people aboard. Flight 800 had just received clearance to initiate a climb to cruise altitude when it exploded without warning. Because the plane was loaded […]
Continue ReadingA Family Is Brutally Attacked On A Walk In England
Dr. Lin Russell, her two daughters, Josie and Megan, and their dog, Lucy, are all brutally attacked by a man wielding a hammer on their way home to Nonington Village, Kent, England, after a swimming gala. Forcing them to sit down in the woods, the attacker blindfolded and tied up […]
Continue ReadingFirst Successful Cloning Of A Mammal
On this day in 1996, Dolly the sheep–the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell–is born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. Originally code-named “6LL3,” the cloned lamb was named after the buxom singer and actress Dolly Parton. The name was reportedly suggested by one of […]
Continue ReadingNetanyahu Elected Prime Minister Of Israel
In what was regarded as a setback for the Middle East peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres is narrowly defeated in national elections by Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Peres, leader of the Labor Party, became prime minister in 1995 after Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish […]
Continue ReadingA Veteran’s Flashback Defense Doesn’t Hold Up In Court
Seventy-six-year-old Richard Keech shoots his son-in-law, Nicholas Candy, to death outside his Long Beach, California, home. Candy, in the midst of a divorce and custody battle with Keech’s daughter Nancy, had arrived to pick up his son. As he staggered away down the street yelling, “Help me, help me,” Keech […]
Continue ReadingSupreme Court Defends Rights Of Homosexuals
In a victory for the gay and lesbian civil rights movement, the U.S. Supreme Court votes six to three to strike down an amendment to Colorado’s state constitution that would have prevented any city, town, or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect […]
Continue ReadingDeath On Mount Everest
Eight climbers die on Mount Everest during a storm on this day in 1996. It was the worst loss of life ever on the mountain on a single day. Author Jon Krakauer, who himself attempted to climb the peak that year, wrote a best-selling book about the incident, Into Thin […]
Continue ReadingPort Arthur Massacre In Australia
On this day in 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant begins a killing spree that ends in the deaths of 35 men, women and children in the quiet town of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia. Bryant, who is believed to have an extremely low IQ and may be mentally handicapped, began the […]
Continue ReadingPenguins Defeat Capitals In Marathon Hockey Game
On this day in 1996, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2, in 139 minutes and 15 seconds of total game play, making it the fifth-longest match in the history of the National Hockey League. A regulation hockey game lasts 60 minutes. According to NHL rules, playoff matches aren’t […]
Continue ReadingUnabomber Arrested
At his small wilderness cabin near Lincoln, Montana, Theodore John Kaczynski is arrested by FBI agents and accused of being the Unabomber, the elusive terrorist blamed for 16 mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 during an 18-year period. Kaczynski, born in Chicago in 1942, won a scholarship […]
Continue ReadingRon Brown Killed In Plane Crash
Ronald H. Brown, the U.S. secretary of commerce, is killed along with 32 other Americans when their U.S. Air Force plane crashes into a mountain near Dubrovnik, Croatia. Brown was leading a delegation of business executives to the former Yugoslavia to explore business opportunities that might help rebuild the war-torn […]
Continue ReadingGene Kelly Dies
On this day in 1996, the dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly dies at the age of 83, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Kelly graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Pittsburgh during the Great Depression. With jobs scarce, he […]
Continue Reading