1996

1996

MCMXCVI


 * Leap Year, begins Monday ends Tuesday (same calendar 1968, 2024)
 * Easter: 07 April
 * Bank Holidays: 01 Jan, 08 Apr, 06 May, 27 May, 26 Aug, 26 Dec


 * UK Prime Minister: Harold Wilson


 * FA Cup Winners: Manchester United (beat Liverpool FC 1-0, 11 May)
 * Christmas Number One: Spice Girls - Two Become One
 * Eurovision Song Contest, Oslo, Norway 18 May
 * Winner: Eimear Quinn - The Voice (Ireland)
 * UK entry: Gina G - Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit (8th)
 * Blue Peter Team: Diane, Tim, Stuart and Katy, then Tim, Stuart, Katy and Romana
 * Doctor Who: Paul McGann (TV Movie, 27 May)
 * Radio 1 Breakfast Show DJ: Chris Evans
 * Big Christmas Day Film On BBC1: Jurassic Park (1993)

Main events

 * Jan: 23–26 January: sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms in the UK.
 * Feb: Take That announce split, Princess of Wales agrees to divorce
 * April: Duke & Duchess of York divorce
 * May: Man Utd. win Premier League and FA Cup
 * June: European Football Championships held in England, Germany win.
 * July: Spice Girls release debut single Wannabe, Nelson Mandela visits UK, Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA
 * November: The Simpsons BBC debut
 * December: Conservative Party loses majority in House of Commons, unemployment below 2,000,000

4% of UK population has internet access.



TV
(channel and first broadcast date in brackets)

New shows:

 * TFI Friday (09 February), Ballykissangel (11 February), Silent Witness (21 February), Dalziel and Pascoe (16 March), Doctor Who (TV movie, 27 May), Changing Rooms (04 September), This Life (18 March), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (12 November), The SImpsons

Shows ending

 * Jackanory, Spitting Image, Going For Gold, Beadle's About!

Other TV events

 * Only Fools and Horses Christmas Trilogy,
 * CBBC on Nickelodeon,
 * Sky 2, Sky Box Office and Sky Sports 3 launched on analogue.

Music

 * Biggest selling singles: Fugees - Killing Me Softly, Spice Girls - Wannabe, Babylon Zoo - Spaceman (full list)
 * Biggest selling albums: Alanis Morisette - Jagged Little Pill, Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Spice Girls - Spice, George Michael - Older (full list)
 * Compilation albums: Now That's What I Call Music! 33, 34, 35, Trainspotting - OST, Take That - Greatest Hits, Simply Red - Greatest Hits, The Beatles - Anthology 2
 * Debut albums:
 * Spice Girls - Spice, Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys, Olive - Extra Virgin,  Eminem - Infinite, Republica - Republica (full list)
 * Alternative/independent: The Beautiful South - Blue is the Colour, Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley Shoals, Ash - 1977, Everything but the Girl - Walking Wounded, R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Films
UK release


 * Trainspotting
 * Secrets & Lies, Muppet Treasure Island (both 24 May), Mission: Impossible, The Wind in the Willows, Twelfth Night
 * Jude (with Christopher Eccleston, Kate Winslet)

Births

 * Ruben Loftus-Cheek (23 Jan.), Lewis Capaldi (07 Oct.)

Birthdays

 * 20:
 * 30:
 * 40:
 * 50:
 * 60:
 * 70:



Deaths

 * Leslie Crowther, William Rushton, Beryl Reid, Michael Bentine, John Pertwee, Willie Rushton, Gene Kelly