On June 2, 1996, Seattle earns its first trip to the NBA (National Basketball Association) Finals since 1979 with a 90-86 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 7 at KeyArena. Shawn Kemp paces the SuperSo...
On June 15, 1996, the first off-leash dog run area in a Seattle Park is opened in Magnuson Park at Sand Point. It is one of seven areas opened for dogs to run free over a year-long trial period. The o...
On July 1, 1996, the Washington State University Cooperative Extension Program opens Salishan Learning Center in Tacoma's east side. The center is part of an effort by WSU to bring the University's se...
On July 15, 1996, police evacuate a nine-block area around Westlake Center in downtown Seattle after a pickup truck containing a heart-shaped, red metal sculpture is abandoned in Westlake Park at 4th ...
On July 28, 1996, two young West Richland men are wading along the banks of the Columbia River near Kennewick when they step on something that looks like a big rock. When they pull it from the mud, th...
On August 1, 1996, the Port of Seattle passes Resolution 3212, adopting the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport's Master Plan Update (MPU) and the Puget Sound Regional Council's (PSRC) Reso...
On August 10, 1996, the Washington State History Museum opens in a new $42 million building on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma. The museum will be one of the important features in the renaissance of downtown...
On September 6, 1996, ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) stages Cheap, the first show in its new $30.4 million complex, Kreielsheimer Place, in downtown Seattle. Seattle Times theater critic Misha Berson wr...
On September 17, 1996, King County voters defeat a $215 million bond proposal intended to fund habitat restoration, purchase lands for parks and open spaces, and create ballfields.
On October 9, 1996, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announces that American scientists Douglas Dean Osheroff (b. 1945), David N. Lee (b. 1931), and Robert C. Richardson (1937-2013) are co-winner...
On October 16, 1996, the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) is dedicated in Richland. The high-tech laboratory is the fulfillment of a dream by longtime director of th...
On November 5, 1996, Washington voters choose Democrats Bill Clinton (b. 1946) for president and Gary Locke (b. 1950) for governor. Statewide ballot measures regarding school vouchers, charter schools...