At A Glance

16 August 1996 at a glance

Day of the week
16 August 1996 was a Friday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Wannabe” by Spice Girls.
Top Film of 1996
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1996 was Independence Day.
Star sign
The star sign for 16 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 16 August 1996 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 16 August 1996 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 16 August

  • 1972 In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
  • 1975 Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration.
  • 1989 A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.
  • 2008 The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.
  • 2020 The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.

Famous people born on 16 August

  • Madonna, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and director (born 1958)
  • Sophie Cunningham, American basketball player (born 1996)
  • Jannik Sinner, Italian tennis player (born 2001)
  • James Cameron, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1954)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1996 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1996 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 13 January – National Union of Mineworkers' leader Arthur Scargill announces that he is defecting from the Labour Party to set up his own Socialist Labour Party.
  • 4 February – The first two passenger train operating companies begin operation of their service franchises as part of the privatisation of British Rail: South West Trains (part of the Stagecoach Group) and Great Western Trains (management buyout).
  • 17 March – Legoland Windsor opens its doors for the public. It becomes the second Legoland in Europe.
More events of 1996 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in 1996

Prime Minister

John Major

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

£1.50

Loaf of Bread

65p

Average House

£60,750

Weekly Wage

£365.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1990s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Tom Holland1 June 1996ActorView their day →Florence Pugh3 January 1996ActressView their day →Kaya Scodelario13 March 1992ActressView their day →Ed Sheeran17 February 1991Singer-songwriterView their day →Dua Lipa22 August 1995Singer-songwriterView their day →Callum Turner15 February 1990ActorView their day →Harry Kane28 July 1993FootballerView their day →Jack Lowden2 June 1990ActorView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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