1996 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1996 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Secretary of State for Wales – William Hague
 * Archbishop of Wales – Alwyn Rice Jones, Bishop of St Asaph
 * Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
 * John Gwilym Jones (outgoing)
 * Dafydd Rowlands (incoming)

Events

 * 1 January - Michael German is awarded the OBE for his public and political service.
 * 15 February - The Sea Empress, an oil tanker, runs aground off Milford Haven, causing devastation to the west Wales coastline.
 * 1 April - The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 comes into force, creating 22 unitary authorities.
 * 3 April - The first EuroHowl is held in Aberystwyth, Wales.
 * 29 June - The Prince's Trust concert in Hyde Park, London is attended by 150,000 people.
 * 18 July - Howard Hughes is sentenced to life imprisonment at Chester Crown Court for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Sophie Hook at Llandudno 12 months previously. The trial judge recommends that Hughes, 31, should never be released.
 * 28 August - The Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the High Court of Justice in London, the first time in history that a Prince of Wales has successfully gone through a divorce. By negotiation, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled, Diana, Princess of Wales.
 * November - The Owain Glyndŵr Society is founded.
 * date unknown
 * The Church in Wales ordains its first women priests.
 * South Wales Constabulary changes its name to South Wales Police.

Arts and literature

 * Sir Anthony Hopkins opens the Cliff Tucker Theatre at the University of Wales, Lampeter.
 * Alice Thomas Ellis is dismissed as a columnist on the Catholic Herald newspaper because of her attack on the reputation of the late Archbishop Derek Worlock.
 * Steve Balsamo stars in a West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Awards

 * Glyndŵr Award - Jan Morris
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Ffairfach, near Llandeilo)
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - R. O. Williams
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - David John Pritchard
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld
 * Wales Book of the Year:
 * English language: Nigel Jenkins, Gwalia in Khasia
 * Welsh language:
 * Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Eirug Wyn, Smoc Gron Bach

New books

 * Ron Berry - This Bygone
 * Ruth Bidgood - The Fluent Moment
 * Gillian Clarke - The Whispering Room
 * Keith Kissack - The Lordship, Parish and Borough of Monmouth
 * Howard Marks - Mr Nice
 * Kenneth Morris - The Dragon Path
 * Tim Rishton - Liturgisk orgelspill

Film

 * Prince Valiant filmed at Gwrych Castle.

Music

 * John Cale - Walking on Locusts
 * Peter Maxwell Davies - The Doctor of Myddfai (opera)
 * Gillian Elisa - Rhywbeth yn y Glas.
 * Karl Jenkins - Diamond Music
 * Donna Lewis - Now in a Minute
 * Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic.

Broadcasting

 * The Broadcasting Act 1996 changes the funding formula for S4C.

Welsh-language television

 * Heno (Welsh-language news programme, broadcast until 2001 and returned in 2012).

English-language television

 * Barry Welsh is Coming
 * In the Blood, presented by Steve Jones

Sport

 * BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Ryan Giggs
 * Football
 * The Welsh Football Trust is founded.
 * Llansantffraid F.C. win the Welsh Cup and are offered sponsorship by Total Network Solutions.
 * Snooker
 * Mark Williams wins the Welsh Open tournament in Cardiff.

Births

 * 25 February - Laura Halford, rhythmic gymnast
 * 25 April - Kizzy Crawford, Bajan-Welsh folk-pop crossover singer-songwriter
 * 17 May - Seb Davies, rugby player
 * 25 July - Jarrod Evans, rugby player
 * 1 August - Gemma Evans, footballer
 * 14 September - Shaun Evans, rugby player
 * 2 October - Keston Davies, footballer
 * 28 November - Owen Evans, footballer

Deaths

 * 16 January - Dai Ward, footballer, 61
 * 7 March - Aled Eames, historian, 74
 * 11 March - Sir Granville Beynon, physicist, 81
 * 14 March - Dewi Bebb, Wales rugby union player, 57
 * 16 March - Harry Peacock, Wales rugby union player, 87
 * 14 April - Mervyn Levy, artist and critic, 81
 * 7 May - Taffy Williams, soldier, 62
 * 27 July - Billy Rees, footballer, 72
 * 29 August - Dillwyn Thomas, cricketer, 91
 * 5 September - Clem Thomas, rugby player, 67
 * 24 September - I. E. S. Edwards, Egyptologist, 87
 * 26 October - Huw Owen, theologian and academic, 69
 * 10 November - Dafydd Orwig, politician and academic, 68
 * 9 December
 * Diana Morgan, playwright and screenwriter, 86
 * Ivor Roberts-Jones, sculptor, 83
 * 29 December - Pennar Davies, poet and theologian, 85
 * date unknown
 * Thomas Nathaniel Davies, artist and teacher
 * Thomas David Frank Evans, WWII prisoner-of-war
 * Harry Hanford, footballer, 88
 * Thyrza Anne Leyshon, painter, 103