1996 breakdown into major news, sports, and entertainment events; This is what happened…
Two tragedies struck the hearts of the British in 1996, the nation’s sympathies went out to the people of Dunblane and Manchester. In Dunblane, a crazed gunman has shot up at a local nursery school, killing an entire class and their teacher. Later in the year, in direct response to those unfortunate events, the Government announced that it would ban almost all firearms in the UK.
In Manchester, a massive bomb devastated its busy central shopping area just as it was filling up with eager shoppers on Saturdays. The police managed to start an evacuation before it exploded, but dozens of people were still killed or injured in the blast. Such was the damage caused that the episode caused a total regeneration of the center of the city of Manchester.
Also making the news in ’96 was the introduction of the first genetically modified (or GM) food to go on sale in British supermarkets. The modified tomato puree was the cause of all the fuss, with some critics calling it “Frankenstein food.”
The world of sport was dominated by England as the venue for the European soccer championships (Euro ’96). The group stage match between England and Scotland garnered a lot of attention with Gazza’s wonderful goal ultimately robbing the home team of victory. Buoyed by local support, the ‘Three Lions’ made it all the way to the semi-finals, the nation going football mad as it looked as if England were really going to win a major tournament for the first time since ’66, then, as really should have been expected, they lost on penalties to Germany.
When it comes to entertainment, Chris Evans reinvented the chat show format with his hit show ‘TFI Friday’. Featuring celebrity gossip, the trendiest bands and friendly guests, this chaotic unscripted show briefly made Evans the most wanted man on television. . At the BBC, a group of thirty-something lawyers were getting huge ratings; ‘This Life’ is a bit like the American ‘Friends’ but with much more ‘bad’ behavior and cheeky stuff.
The big screen was blessed with one of the jewels in the British film crown, ‘Trainspotting’. Despite featuring heroin, needles, vomit and disgusting toilets, this was the coolest thing of the year and brought Ewan McGregor out of the blue into ‘Star Wars’. The most family-friendly movie of 1996 was ‘Toy Story’; being the first feature film animated entirely by computer. The results were pretty amazing and people flocked to see ‘Woody’ (a rope-pulling cowboy) and ‘Buzz Lightyear’ (a high-tech space ranger) fight to become little Andy’s favorite toy.
