drama, the 1996 New York Drama Critics’ Circle
Award for Best Musical, and 1996 Tony Awards for
Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Musical
Score.
Popular culture:(Feb. 28) Alanis Morissette wins the
Album of the Year award, the top honor at the
38th Annual Grammy Awards, becoming the
youngest person to ever win this award. (Sept.)
Wal-Mart removes Sheryl Crow’s self-titled com-
pact disc from its stores in the continental United
States. Wal-Mart executives are offended by
the lyrics of “Love Is a Good Thing,” which states:
“Watch out sister/ Watch out brother/ Watch our
children as they kill each other/ with a gun
they bought at the Wal-Mart discount stores.”
(Sept. 7) Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot in Las
Vegas after a boxing match. He dies on Septem-
ber 13. (Sept. 29) The Nintendo 64 video game
console is released in North America.
Sports:(Apr. 6) Major League Soccer, a new Ameri-
can soccer league, kicks off in front of an overflow
crowd of 31,683 who watch the first game be-
tween the San Jose Clash and (Washington) D.C.
United. (Jun. 8) Steffi Graf wins her nineteenth
grand-slam tennis title when she defeats Arantxa
Sanchez Vicario in the longest game ever played
in a women’s final at the French Open. (Jun. 16)
The Chicago Bulls win their fourth National Bas-
ketball Association championship when they de-
feat the Seattle SuperSonics in the sixth game of
the series. (Jul. 8) Fifteen-year-old tennis player
Martina Hingis becomes the youngest player
to win the ladies’ doubles event at Wimbledon.
(Jul. 19) The 1996 Summer Olympics open in At-
lanta, Georgia.
Crime:(Mar. 20) A jury in Los Angeles finds Lyle
and Erik Menendez guilty of first-degree murder
in the shotgun killing of their parents.(Apr. 3)
Theodore Kaczynski, the suspected Unabomber,
is arrested at his Montana cabin. (Jul. 27) A bomb
explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta
during the 1996 Summer Olympics. One person
is killed and 111 others are injured in the blast.
(Oct. 23) The civil trial of O. J. Simpson begins in
Santa Monica, California. (Dec. 26) JonBenét
Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty contest winner, is
murdered in the basement of her parents’ home
in Boulder, Colorado.
1997
International events:(Jan. 19) Hebron, the last
Israeli-controlled city in the West Bank, is handed
over to Palestine. (May 2) Tony Blair is appointed
prime minister of the United Kingdom. (Jul. 1)
The United Kingdom hands over sovereignty of
Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.
(Aug. 31) Diana, Princess of Wales, is taken to a
hospital after a car crash shortly after midnight in
Paris. She is pronounced dead about four hours
later. (Sept. 6) More than two billion people
worldwide watch the televised funeral services for
Princess Diana.
Government and politics:(Jan. 21) Newt Gingrich is
the first Speaker of the House of Representatives
to be disciplined by that body for ethical miscon-
duct. (Jan. 22) The U.S. Senate confirms Mad-
eleine Albright to be the first female secretary of
state.
Military and war:(May 12) The First Chechen War
officially ends with the signing of the Russian-
Chechen Peace Treaty.
Society:(Feb. 10) Sgt. Major Gene C. McKinney, the
Army’s top-ranking enlisted soldier, is suspended
after Army officials learn about his alleged sexual
misconduct. (Oct. 4) More than 700,000 men
gather for the Promise Keepers’ Stand in the Gap
event in Washington, D.C. Promise Keepers is
an international Christian organization that ad-
vocates that husbands should head their house-
holds in a kind and gentle manner, as exempli-
fied by Jesus Christ. (Nov. 19) Bobbi McCaughey,
a resident of Carlisle, Iowa, gives birth to seven ba-
bies, who will later be the first set of septuplets to
survive infancy.
Business and economics:(Feb. 5) Morgan Stanley
and Dean Witter Reynolds investment banks an-
nounce a $10 billion merger. (Feb. 13) The Dow
Jones Industrial Average closes above 7,000 for
the first time, climbing to 7,022.44. (Jul. 16) The
Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches yet another
high when it closes at 8,038. 88, its first close above
8,000. (Jul. 17) After 117 years in operation, F. W.
Woolworth Company closes its department stores.
(Oct. 27) The U.S. stock market bubble tempo-
rarily bursts when stock markets worldwide crash
because of a global economic crisis scare. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average plummets to
7,161.15, forcing the New York Stock Exchange to
halt trading. (Oct. 28) The previous day’s stockThe Nineties in America Time Line 1037