Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( äl ' fred bern ' härd nōbel ') () ( 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896 ) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer.

* 1896 – In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1, 500 years after the original games are banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

* 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

* 1896 – Hans List, Austrian inventor and entrepreneur ( d. 1996 )

* 1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist ( d. 1972 )

* 1896 – Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in world history ( 09: 00 to 09: 45 ) between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

* 1896 – Faina Ranevskaya, Russian actress ( d. 1984 )

* 1844 – James Henry Greathead, English engineer ( d. 1896 )

* 1896 – Erich Hückel, German physicist ( d. 1980 )

* 1896 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist ( d. 1980 )

In 1896 England under the captaincy of W G Grace won the series 2 – 1, and this marked the end of England's longest period of Ashes dominance.

* 1896 – Lorenzo Herrera, Venezuelan singer and composer ( d. 1960 )

* 1988 – Jim Jordan, American actor ( b. 1896 )

* 1896 – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author ( d. 1953 )

* 1896 – Pat Clayton, English surveyor and explorer ( d. 1962 )

* 1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian poet and essayist ( d. 1963 )

* 1896 – Gerty Cori, Austrian biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1957 )

* 1896 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-Canadian activist ( d. 1985 )

* 1896 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer ( d. 1958 )

* 1896 – Léon Theremin, Russian inventor, invented the Theremin ( d. 1993 )

* 1896 – Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

* 1896 – Officially recognised date of the Cry of Pugad Lawin, the start of the Philippine Revolution is made in Pugad Lawin ( Quezon City ), in the province of Manila ( actual date and location is disputed ).

* 1896 – Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.

* 1850 – Marcelo H. del Pilar, Filipino writer, journalist, and revolutionary ( d. 1896 )

* 1896 – Raymond Massey, Canadian actor ( d. 1983 )

Brigitte Bardot was born in Paris to Anne-Marie ' Toty ' Mucel ( 1912 – 1978 ) and Louis ' Pilou ' Bardot ( 1896 – 1975 ).

Louis Lumiere worked with Victor Planchon to adapt the Lumiere " Blue Label " ( Etiquette Bleue ) photographic plate emulsion for use on celluloid roll film, which began in early 1896.

* 1818 – Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish politician and writer, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden ( d. 1896 )

When Laurier led the Liberals to victory in the 1896 election, 14-year-old Louis relayed the election returns from the telephone in his father's store.

* 1896 – The F4-strength St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri and East Saint Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing $ 2. 9 billion in damage ( 1997 USD ).

* 1944 – Louis Capone, New York organized crime figure ( b. 1896 ) ( executed )

He was portrayed by Louis Jourdan in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens 1896.

:::— Louis Sullivan's The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered ( 1896 )

* March 18 – Louis Bromfield, American writer ( b. 1896 )

The stories surrounding the events and personalities of these Games were chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens 1896 starring David Ogden Stiers as William Milligan Sloane and Louis Jourdan as Pierre de Coubertin.

The exploits of Louis, Garrett, Connolly, and Flack would be chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens, 1896.

* Louis Wharton ( 1896 – 1957 ), West Indian-born English cricketer

Edmond de Goncourt ( May 26, 1822 – July 16, 1896 ), born Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt, was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt.

Most famous Belgian authors are: Guido Gezelle ( 1830 – 1899 ), Emile Verhaeren ( 1855 – 1916 ), Max Elskamp ( 1862 – 1931 ), Maurice Maeterlinck ( 1862 – 1949 ), Paul van Ostaijen ( 1896 – 1926 ), Henri Michaux ( French born and educated in Belgium, 1899 – 1984 ) and Jacques Brel ( 1929 – 1978 ) and prose writers: Hendrik Conscience ( 1812 – 1883 ), Charles de Coster ( 1827 – 1879 ), Willem Elsschot ( 1882 – 1960 ), Michel de Ghelderode ( 1898 – 1962 ), Georges Simenon 1903-1989, Louis Paul Boon ( 1912 – 1979 ), Hugo Claus ( 1929 – 2008 ), Pierre Mertens ( born in 1939 ) Ernest Claes ( 1885 – 1968 ), and, Amélie Nothomb ( born in 1967 ).

* On 18 April 2012, the silver cup given to the marathon winner, Greek athlete Spyridon Louis, at the first modern Olympic Games staged in Athens in 1896 sold for UK £ 541, 250 ( US $ 860, 000 ), breaking the auction record for Olympic memorabilia.

Louis Jules Trochu (; 12 March 1815 – 7 October 1896 ) was a French military leader and politician.

George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier ( 6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896 ) was a French-born British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby.

Baron Louis Gerhard De Geer of Finspång ( 18 July 181824 September 1896 ) was a Swedish statesman and writer.

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Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau ( September 23, 1819 – September 18, 1896 ) was a French physicist.