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 )

William Scott-Elliot in The Story of Atlantis ( 1896 ) elaborated on Blavatsky's account, claiming that Atlantis eventually split into two linked islands, one called Daitya and the other Ruta, and that the latter was later reduced to a final remnant called Poseidonis.

Peace, 1896 etching by William Strutt, based upon Isaiah 11: 6, 7

* William Chomsky ( 1896 – 1977 ), American scholar of Hebrew

From 1891 to 1896, William Morris ' Kelmscott Press published books that are some of the most significant of the graphic design products of the Arts and Crafts movement, and made a very lucrative business of creating books of great stylistic refinement and selling them to the wealthy for a premium.

* 1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

* 1857 – William E. Russell, American politician ( d. 1896 )

* 1834 – William Morris, English writer and designer ( d. 1896 )

Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse, 1896

After the death of William Quan Judge in 1896, organized the Theosophical Society Independent and then wrote Thinking and Destiny which covers in plan terms the purpose of the universe and occult meanings.

John William Waterhouse: Pandora, 1896

In 1896 Outcault was hired away at a much higher salary to William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal American where he drew the Yellow Kid in a new full-page color strip which was significantly violent and even vulgar compared to his first panels for Truth magazine.

The first president was William A. Caldwell, who served until 1896.

William Morris ( 24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 ) was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement.

cy: William Morris ( 1834 – 1896 )

His opponent in the general election was William Jennings Bryan, who had run for president twice before, in 1896 and in 1900 against William McKinley.

When William Jennings Bryan captured the Democratic nomination from Cleveland's supporters in 1896, Wilson refused to support the ticket.

William Jennings Bryan, the nominee in 1896, 1900 and 1908, played a critical role in opposition to any candidate who had the support of " the financiers of Wall Street ".

Hearst was a leading Democrat who promoted William Jennings Bryan for president in 1896 and 1900.

* March 5 – William Cameron Menzies, American film production designer ( b. 1896 )

* November 3 – U. S. presidential election, 1896: Republican William McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan.

* March 24 – William Morris, English poet and artist ( d. 1896 )