Events from the year 1996 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

: Albert II *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jean-Luc Dehaene Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene (; 7 August 1940 – 15 May 2014) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber" and "The Minesweep ...

Events

* 27 February – A

multiple-vehicle collision A multiple vehicle collision (colloquially known as a pile-up, multi-car collision, multi-vehicle collision, or simply a multi) is a road traffic collision involving many vehicles. Generally occurring on high-capacity and high-speed routes such ...

occurred on the E17 near

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, with 10 deaths the worst traffic accident in Belgium * 13 August – Child-murderer

Marc Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thr ...

arrested * 20 October –

White March The White March (french: Marche blanche; nl, Witte Mars; german: Weißer Marsch) was a demonstration in Brussels on 20 October 1996 after serial killer and criminal Marc Dutroux was arrested. The demonstrators wanted better protection for chil ...

: approximately 300,000 people demonstrate to protest police and judicial inefficiency and demand improved child protection in the wake of the Dutroux affair.

Publications

* David A. Boileau, ''Cardinal Mercier: A Memoir'' (

Peeters Peeters is a Dutch-language patronymic surname, equivalent to Peters. It is the most common surname in Belgium (33,275 people), and is particularly common in the province of Antwerp, but also in Flemish Brabant and Belgian Limburg. Notable people wi ...

) * A. G. Papadopoulos, ''Urban Regimes and Strategies: Building Europe's Central Executive District in Brussels'' (University of Chicago Press)

Births

Deaths

* 6 May –

Leo Joseph Suenens Leo Jozef Suenens ( ) (16 July 1904 – 6 May 1996) was a Belgian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 1961 to 1979, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962. Suenens was a leading voice at ...

(born 1904), cardinal * 19 May –

Charles Verlinden Charles Verlinden (3 February 1907 – 19 May 1996) was a Belgian medievalist with a particular interest in the history of slavery in Europe. In 1970 he was awarded by the Premio Internazionale Galileo Galilei dei Rotary Italiani for his contribut ...

(born 1907), historian * 29 September – Albert Ayguesparse (born 1900), writer

References

{{Year in Europe, 1996

Years of the 20th century in Belgium 1990s in Belgium