1996 in Scotland
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2016}}
{{Year in Scotland| 1996 }}
Events from the year 1996 in Scotland.
Incumbents
{{further|Politics of Scotland|Order of precedence in Scotland}}
= Law officers =
= Judiciary =
- Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Hope until 1 October; then Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
- Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Ross
- Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Philip, then Lord McGhie
Events
- 13 March – Dunblane school massacre – a gunman kills sixteen children, their teacher and himself at a primary school in Dunblane, Stirling. The killer, who wounded thirteen other children and another teacher, is quickly identified as 43-year-old former scout leader Thomas Watt Hamilton.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13/newsid_2543000/2543277.stm|title=1996: Massacre in Dunblane school gym|work=BBC News|access-date=2008-02-03|date=1996-03-13}}
- 1 April – The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 takes effect with 32 unitary councils replacing the 9 Regional Councils, 53 District Councils and 3 unitary authorities that had been established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
- 18 May – Rangers F.C., who have already won the Scottish Football League title, complete the Scottish double by beating Hearts 5–1 in the Scottish Cup final.
- 5 July – Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born at The Roslin Institute in Midlothian.
- October – The Shetland Times and The Shetland News become involved in a landmark legal case over alleged copyright infringement and deep linking in their websites.{{cite book |last1=Smartt |first1=Ursula |title=Media & entertainment law |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=9781317808169 |page=425 |edition=Second}}
- 9 November – Irvine, North Ayrshire, is designated a New Town, the last of the five created in Scotland.
- 30 November (St. Andrew's Day) – The Stone of Scone is installed in Edinburgh Castle 700 years after it was removed from Scotland by King Edward I of England.{{cite book |editor1-last=Lynch |editor1-first=Michael |title=The Oxford companion to Scottish history |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199693054 |page=570}}
- Edinburgh Old Town and New Town become the first World Heritage Site in mainland Scotland.
- First of the Maggie's Centres for drop-in cancer care in the UK opens in Edinburgh.
Births
- 13 January – Craig Storie, footballer
- 8 February – Jaison McGrath, footballer
- 1 March – Lizzie Arnot, footballer{{cite web |title=Lizzie Arnot {{!}} Scotland {{!}} Scottish FA |url=https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/players/?pid=117010&lid=2&rid=1229 |website=www.scottishfa.co.uk |access-date=27 April 2020}}
- 15 March – Seonaid McIntosh, sport shooter{{cite web |title=Seonaid McIntosh |url=https://www.teamscotland.scot/athlete/seonaid-mcintosh/ |website=Team Scotland |access-date=9 February 2020 |language=en}}
- 19 March – Kaiya Jones, actress
- 9 May – Grace Reid, diver{{cite web |title=Diving {{!}} Athlete Profile: Grace REID - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games |url=https://results.gc2018.com/en/diving/athlete-profile-n6027670-grace-reid.htm |website=results.gc2018.com |access-date=9 February 2020}}
- 3 August – Robert MacIntyre, golfer
- 10 August – Lauren Tait, netball player{{cite web |title=LAUREN TAIT |url=https://sirensnetball.com/player/lauren-tait/ |website=Strathclyde Sirens |access-date=14 February 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819111521/https://sirensnetball.com/player/lauren-tait/ |url-status=dead }}
- 7 October – Lewis Capaldi, singer-songwriter
Deaths
- 23 January – Norman MacCaig, poet (born 1910)
- 6 March – Stanley Booth-Clibborn, retired bishop of Manchester (born 1924 in London)
- 19 March – W. H. Murray, mountaineer and writer (born 1913)
- 13 April – George Mackay Brown, poet (born 1921)
- 14 April – David Brand, Lord Brand, advocate, sheriff and Senator of the College of Justice (born 1923)
- 25 April – John Lorne Campbell, folklorist (born 1906)
- 16 August – Eric Cullen, actor famous for playing "Wee Burnie" in Rab C. Nesbitt (born 1965)
- 25 August – Caroline Glachan, murder victim (born 1982 in Northern Ireland)
- 24 November – Sorley MacLean, poet (born 1911)
The arts
- January – Indie pop band Belle and Sebastian is formed in Glasgow; on 6 June their debut album Tigermilk is released.
- James MacMillan's first opera Inés de Castro is premièred by Scottish Opera in Glasgow.
- Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow opens.