WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MAY 1996
Find out what all happened January to May 1996

The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest. (11. May 1996)

Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Netherlands. (1. January 1996)

Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people. (13. May 1996)

Willamette Valley Flood of 1996: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest. (6. February 1996)

Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour. (11. January 1996)

The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared. (6. May 1996)

President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing. (29. January 1996)

Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ties all-time record low temperature at -26 °F (-32.2 °C) (4. February 1996)

Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the USA. (25. January 1996)

The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress. (1. February 1996)

Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in 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 gays and lesbians. (20. May 1996)

Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake. (31. January 1996)

An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 237 on the ground; the aircraft's crew of 6 survive the crash. (8. January 1996)

The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act. (8. February 1996)

NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros. (17. February 1996)

The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy). (25. March 1996)

Dunblane massacre: in Dunblane, Scotland, 16 primary school children and one teacher are shot dead by spree killer Thomas Watt Hamilton who then commits suicide. (13. March 1996)

An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400. (31. January 1996)

A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines killed 162 people. (18. March 1996)

In a military coup Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane. (27. January 1996)