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Halifax Regional Municipality

Halifax Regional Municipality

Halifax Regional Municipality, commonly referred to as HRM or simply Halifax (, AST) is a Canadian regional municipality, the provincial capital, the largest population centre in Nova Scotia, and the cultural and economic centre of the Atlantic Provinces. Halifax Regional Municipality (2001 population, 359,111) was created in 1996, through the amalgamation of the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, the town of Bedford, and the Municipality of the County of Halifax. The regional municipality's boundary includes all of Halifax County except for several First Nation reserves. The urban core area of HRM is located in the western end of the municipality, fronting on Halifax Harbour and constitutes the most populous urban area on Canada's Atlantic coast, and the second largest coastal population centre in the country, after Vancouver, British Columbia. HRM currently accounts for 40% of Nova Scotia's population, and 15% of that of the Atlantic provinces.

History

Atlantic provinces Originally named Jipugtug, or Chebucto - which means biggest harbour - by the Mi'kmaq people who lived there, the town of Halifax was founded by British General Edward Cornwallis, and 2500 settlers on July 9, 1749 as a military outpost for the British. The town of Dartmouth was settled soon after on the opposite side of the harbour. To link the two communities, a ferry service was started between Halifax and Dartmouth that still operates today; it is the oldest saltwater ferry in North America. The purpose of Halifax's founding was as a defensive outpost to protect the New England colonies from French forces to the northeast in what is now Cape Breton Island. French forces from Louisbourg had attacked British fishing outposts and fishing vessels at Canso in 1744 during King George's War, and New Englanders were terrified of the perceived French threat. :Please see main articles on Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Bedford, Nova Scotia and Halifax County, Nova Scotia and for an in-depth history of HRM's constituent communities. HRM's historic urban core on the Halifax Peninsula and parts of the older areas of Dartmouth have invoked comparisons with San Francisco, California, largely because of a combination of hilly streets, foggy climate, and Victorian architecture. As with many coastal communities in the Maritime Provinces, HRM shares cultural ties with Boston, Massachusetts. HRM is currently twinned with Hakodate, Japan. The Halifax-Dartmouth metropolitan region experienced less suburban sprawl during the post-Second World War era than in many comparable Canadian urban centres; this was partly the result of a weaker economy and smaller population base than urban centres in other provinces, but also because of deliberate local government policies to limit suburban growth in Halifax, Dartmouth and the surrounding county. Today HRM is more compact than most Canadian cities, although there are expanses of suburban growth in Dartmouth and the Sackville River valley. One sprawl-related development in recent decades has been allowing warehouse-style retailers to establish in existing suburban industrial parks such as Bayers Lake and Burnside, both of which have become important and controversial centres of commerce for the municipality and the province. All of the municipal units within Halifax County underwent amalgamation during the 1990s to create a regional municipality. This process saw previously separate municipalities and the county government merged to form a new single-tier municipality, formally named the "Halifax Regional Municipality", which takes its name from the county which it derives its boundaries from. Unlike cities and smaller municipalities in other provinces affected by amalgamation, where new municipalities often retained the name of the largest city in the amalgamation, the Halifax Regional Municipality is often referred to as "HRM," especially in the media and not as "Halifax". Although discussions had been underway for decades, a deal was finally signed in 2003 that saw the construction of several sewage treatment plants for the core urban area, as well as an extensive trunk collector system to link outfalls to each plant. For the first time since settlement came to the area, human sewage will be treated before it is discharged into the Atlantic Ocean; estimated start-up is for 2006. 2006]] On September 29, 2003, HRM was hit by Hurricane Juan which made landfall west of the urban core; it was the most powerful hurricane to directly hit the Halifax-Dartmouth metropolitan area since 1893. The storm caused a serious disruption throughout the entire municipality during the first week of October; although some areas of the urban core only lost electricity for a brief period, outlying rural regions in the eastern part of HRM were without electricity for up to two weeks. Millions of trees in HRM were damaged or destroyed in the dense forests along the Eastern Shore.

Notable persons born in/from the Halifax Regional Municipality

October
- Oswald Avery, physician and medical researcher
- Gary Beals, Canadian Idol runner-up
- Buck 65, hip hop artist
- Classified, Underground rapper
- Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins hockey player
- Samuel Cunard, steamship line founder
- Erik Demaine, Ex-prodigy, Computer Scientist, Folding Theorist
- George Dixon, the first black world boxing champion
- Denny Doherty, singer with The Mamas and The Papas
- Joseph Howe, Editor, orator, poet and Statesman (a 'Father of Confederation')
- Ruby Keeler, dancer, actress
- Robert MacNeil, PBS Anchorman, writer and journalist
- Sarah McLachlan, Grammy and Juno award winning singer/songwriter
- Ian Millar, show-jumping world champion
- Peter North, adult film performer
- John F. Stairs, businessman, statesman
- William Grant Stairs, Victorian explorer
- William Machin Stairs, businessman, politician
- John Sparrow David Thompson, Prime Minister of Canada
- John Paul Tremblay, plays Julian on the television show Trailer Park Boys
- William Fenwick Williams, military leader
- Sloan, rock band

Climate

HRM's climate is heavily influenced by its location on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast. The weather, while notoriously unpredictable, is usually milder than that of central Canada, with the temperature remaining (with occasional notable exceptions) between about -15°C (23°F) and 25°C (77°F). Snow falls and melts alternately from December through March. Halifax usually experiences several strong winter storms. In February 2004 a record of 95 cm (32") of snow fell in one such storm. The storm was nicknamed "White Juan", after the recent Hurricane Juan. Spring is cool and foggy, early autumn is often sunny and warm, and summer can range from hot and dry to cool and rainy. Hurricanes are fairly uncommon but do occur occasionally. There can be considerable variations between the weather near the Atlantic Ocean and the weather even ten kilometers inland. Hurricane Juan

Geography

The Halifax Regional Municipality has an area of 5,900 km² which is larger than the province of Prince Edward Island, and measures approximately 165 km in length between its eastern and western-most extremeties. HRM's shoreline "as the crow flies" is approximately 150 km in length, while its northern boundary is usually between 50-60 km inland. The coast, which is mostly rock with small isolated sand beaches in sheltered bays, is heavily indented by numerous inlets the largest of which are St. Margaret's Bay, Halifax Harbour, Cole Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour, Jeddore Harbour, Ship Harbour and Sheet Harbour. Given this fact, it takes approximately 3 hours to drive along the shore from Hubbards, located in the southwestern end of HRM, to Moser River, 195 km (120 mi) away at the southeastern end. The Chebucto Peninsula, created by the indentations of St. Margaret's Bay and Halifax Harbour (including the Bedford Basin), is a defining feature for the shape of the coastline at the western end of HRM, from which the Halifax Peninsula forms a sub-peninsula. Despite the size of its landmass, the population of the municipality is heavily concentrated, with rural communities located along the Eastern Shore and South Shore or in the Musquodoboit River valley. The majority of residents are concentrated in the urban core surrounding Halifax Harbour/Bedford Basin and extending up the Sackville River valley and northeast of the harbour along the Highway 102 corridor. Sable Island has historically been included in Halifax County and is also considered to be jurisdictionally part of HRM, despite being located 180 km (115 miles) offshore of neighbouring Guysborough County and approximately 300 km from HRM's urban core. HRM's boundary includes all of Halifax County, Nova Scotia, except for several First Nation reserves. HRM's topography is quite varied, ranging from rocky shorelines to sandy beaches on the coast, to landscapes shaped by glaciation including exposed bedrock, numerous freshwater lakes, medium-sized rivers and streams, drumlins and low hills. The fertile valley along the Musquodoboit River in the northeastern part of HRM is the only agricultural district of note in the municipality. Aside from the settled communities and the urban area surrounding Halifax Harbour, the rest of the municipality's landscape mostly supports a dense combination of mixed Acadian or coniferous forests. HRM's urban area is built on a series of hills and plateaus surrounding Halifax Harbour; the central part of the former city of Halifax lies on a peninsula extending from the western side of the harbour and dominated by the drumlin which supported the Citadel Hill defensive works. The former city of Dartmouth was clustered on the eastern side of the harbour directly opposite the Halifax peninsula, its defining geographic feature being a series of glacial lakes. Suburban growth around both cities included many existing mining (east of Dartmouth) and farming (northwest of Halifax) and fishing (along the shores of the harbour and the Atlantic coast south of both cities) communities.

Education

The Halifax Regional School Board is responsible for administering the 150 public schools located within HRM, providing instruction from primary to grade 12. There are also 14 independent/private schools in the municipality. The municipality is home to six degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions: Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, King's College, AST and NSCAD are all located on the Halifax Peninsula while Mount Saint Vincent University is located in Rockingham. The former Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) is now integrated with Dalhousie University. The University of King's College remains an independent institution but its students have access to Dalhousie's arts and science faculties. Both Université Sainte-Anne and Cape Breton University have satellite campuses in HRM for extension courses. The Nova Scotia Community College network maintains three campuses in HRM, although these are scheduled to be replaced by a single new campus under construction on the Dartmouth waterfront. There are also a variety of private career and business colleges located in and around HRM's urban core.

Economy

The largest employer in HRM is government, with most provincial government departments headquartered in the area, as well as many regional offices for federal government departments and agencies. The Department of National Defence is the largest single employer and Halifax Harbour continues to serve a major military purpose as home port for Maritime Forces Atlantic. CFB Halifax is Canada's largest naval base and the nation's largest military base in number of personnel. This base is comprised of various shore-based facilities including HMC Dockyard, Stadacona, CFAD Bedford, and other adjunct facilities throughout HRM and central Nova Scotia. Approximately 2/3 of the navy's major ships are home ported in Halifax. Another major military facility is located at 12 Wing, CFB Shearwater in Eastern Passage. This is the home base of naval aviation in Canada and is presently used as a heliport for the CH-124 Sea King. CH-124 Sea King : For more detailed information on the port, consult main article Halifax Harbour. The largest influence on HRM's economy is its port and related spin-offs. Halifax Harbour is strategically located just north of the Great Circle Route between western Europe and the Eastern Seaboard of North America as the first inbound, last outbound major port of call on the continent with strategic rail connections to central and western Canada and the United States. The port has two major container terminals, a medium-sized oil refinery, numerous general cargo piers and more specialized cargo handling piers for products such as automobiles and bulk gypsum. Port facilities are also increasingly used for logistics support of offshore natural gas production platforms near Sable Island, and for ongoing oil and gas exploration. The port has a shipyard and the eastern side of the harbour is home to Canadian Coast Guard Base Dartmouth and the internationally renowned Bedford Institute of Oceanography. In recent years, there has been an increase in number of cruise ships through a redeveloped passenger terminal at Pier 21. The port is also the eastern terminus of the transcontinental Canadian National Railway which maintains extensive facilities around the waterfront. HRM is a major exporter of beer, being home to the Keith's brewery; there are numerous local specialty beers produced in micro-breweries. Another important export is chocolate, produced originally by the locally-owned Moir's company, now owned by Hershey Foods. The aerospace industry has an increasing significance in the regional economy, through engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney Canada, and IMP Aerospace, as well as the increasing passenger and cargo traffic at Halifax International Airport. The economy of HRM has been relatively strong in the past decade, largely as a result of an increasing trend toward urbanization; Atlantic Canada is one of the last regions in Canada to undergo such a transformation. Another important ingredient in HRM's growth has been a major investment in offshore oil and gas exploration, resulting in many high-paying jobs locating to the area. Halifax Harbour was also the staging site for much of the development of the Sable Offshore Energy natural gas project during the late 1990s, as well as somewhat smaller crude oil development projects during the 1970s-1990s. Unemployment is relatively low and the number of construction projects for residential and commercial structures has grown steadily; notably in suburban areas such as Clayton Park and Lower Sackville. One impact relating to the strength of the economy has been the gentrification of some former working-class areas of the city, such as downtown and north-end Dartmouth and the North End of the Halifax Peninsula. In the latter case, a formerly working class area which was reconstructed following its devastation in the disaster of 1917 is now home to many affluent people, with the resulting change in character of some of its neighbourhoods. The South End (of the peninsula) has remained a traditionally wealthy district. Some areas of HRM are known for their concentrations of lower income housing, urban neglect and a preception of higher rates of crime, notably Spryfield in HRM's Mainland South district, the Gottingen Street area in the peninsula's North End, as well as remaining areas of north end Dartmouth and certain pockets of Lower Sackville. Another change in recent years has been the extensive redevelopment of the waterfront in Halifax, Bedford, and Dartmouth. Traditionally the focus has been industry and shipping. However, with changes in shipping technology, larger ships now use container terminals or other harbour facilities, leaving the waterfronts along the Halifax and Dartmouth urban core relatively unused (aside from naval and shipyard activities). Many former industrial waterfront areas have been converted to commercial use to attract the tourist trade.

Culture

tourist HRM's urban core is the highest population centre in Atlantic Canada and is a major cultural centre within the region. The municipality's urban core also benefits from a large population of post-secondary students who provide a strong influence to the local cultural scene. HRM has a number of art galleries, theatres and museums, including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, the Neptune Theatre, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and a Shakespeare by the Sea festival, to name a few. There are several smaller theatre companies such as Zuppa Circus and various local theatre productions in smaller communities throughout the municipality. Halifax Metro Centre is a sports and entertainment hub on the Halifax Peninsula and is home to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Halifax Mooseheads. This facility also hosts large indoor entertainment events. Dalhousie University's Rebecca Cohn Auditorium is the largest performance theatre for dramatic and musical events in HRM and is home to Symphony Nova Scotia. The older Halifax Forum and the much smaller Dartmouth Sportsplex also continue to host sporting events. Outdoor concerts are often performed on the slopes of Citadel Hill and at Alderny Landing in Dartmouth. HRM is reputed to have one of the highest number of bars per capita of any Canadian city; even its QMJHL team is named after a New Brunswick beer company, Moosehead. The India pale ale Alexander Keith's is brewed in Halifax and its founder Alexander Keith was actually also mayor of Halifax at one point. While HRM is not as multiculturally diverse as its larger Canadian counterparts, this is slowly evolving, particularly as the municipality and province place more emphasis on attracting immigrants. Muslims comprise the second-largest visible minority in HRM, while the largest visible minority - the historic African Nova Scotian community - as well as the more recently established Greek and Lebanese communities provide important influences for local culture. The region is also noted for its music scene. Many bars have live music every night of the week; artists performing almost any style of music can be found. HRM is home to a vibrant hip hop community. Some notable artists to have emerged from Halifax include Buck 65, Universal Soul, Classified, April Wine, and The Joel Plaskett Emergency. During the 1990s, the former city of Halifax was excitedly billed as the next Seattle because of its vibrant indie rock scene. Although it never managed to achieve Seattle's musical fame, a number of artists did emerge, including Sloan, Thrush Hermit, and Sarah McLachlan. HRM has become a film-making centre, with many American and Canadian filmmakers using the city's streetscapes, often to stand in for other cities that are more expensive to work in. The city's port status also makes it a popular location for films about ships; scenes from the films Titanic (1997), The Shipping News, and K-19: The Widowmaker were all filmed in the region, as well as numerous silver-screen movies and various documentaries. The CBC news satire show This Hour Has 22 Minutes is based in Halifax, as is the mock-reality show Trailer Park Boys. The tourism industry has had a strong influence on the region in recent decades and provides important spin-offs throughout the retail, restaurant and accommodation sectors, particularly in the downtown urban core of the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth. In the summer, downtown vendors cater to cruise ship passengers and tourists, while destinations such as the Public Gardens, Point Pleasant Park, Casino Nova Scotia, Citadel Hill and most-famously Peggy's Cove all benefit from visitors. The Tall Ships came to Halifax Harbour in 1984, 2000 and 2004. Yacht races such as the biennial Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race and the Route Halifax-SPM (Halifax to St. Pierre) provide additional flavour. Important festivals include the Nova Scotia International Tattoo (sometimes exagerated by locals as North America's largest annual indoor show or the world's largest indoor show), the Atlantic Jazz Festival, the Atlantic Film Festival, the Multicultural Festival, the Greek Summerfest, a Lebanese festival, and the annual International Busker Festival. Halifax also hosts an annual new music festival called the Halifax Pop Explosion each fall. The Halifax Port Authority has recently announced a potential plan to redevelop a waterfront area adjacent to its passenger/cruise ship terminal (which includes Pier 21); this will be known as the Seawall and is being promoted as a Bohemian district.

Local media

Print

The Chronicle-Herald is a daily broadsheet paper, covering mainland Nova Scotia. The paper is independently owned, and usually has a moderate conservative editorial policy. The Daily News is daily tabloid paper, focusing primarily on Halifax. Its editorial style is populist conservative, and it is owned by Transcontinental Media. The Coast is a free "alternative weekly" focused primarily on HRM's urban core, especially the Halifax Peninsula. The independently owned paper is known for its generally left leaning or progressive editorial policy. A Maritimes gossip tabloid Frank Magazine was established in HRM and subsequently expanded into central Canada; it has since retracted to focusing on the Maritimes.

Television

Several television stations operate in HRM:
- Channel 3 - CBHT, CBC
- Channel 5 - CJCH (ATV), CTV
- Channel 8 - CIHF, Global
- Channel 13 - CBHFT, SRC ASN is a cable/satellite-only network operating in conjunction with ATV. Several specialty digital television channel licenses have also been developed in HRM in recent years by Salter Street Films.

Radio

Various radio stations broadcast in HRM:
- 780 AM - CFDR (Kixx), country
- 920 AM - CJCH (AM 920), oldies
- 960 AM - CHNS (Oldies 96), oldies
- 88.1 FM - CKDU, Dalhousie University New High Power Frequency (Nov 2005)
- 90.5 FM - CBHA, CBC Radio One
- 91.5 FM - CBAX, Espace musique
- 92.3 FM - CBAF-5, La Première Chaîne
- 93.9 FM - CJLU (Christian Radio)
- 94.7 FM - CFEP (Seaside FM), community (Eastern Passage)
- 95.7 FM - CJNI, (News 95.7), News/Talk/Sports
- 96.5 FM - CKUL (Kool 96.5), classic hits
- 97.5 FM - CKDU, Dalhousie University campus radio
- 97.9 FM - CIRH, Halifax Information Radio
- 100.1 FM - CIOO (C100), CHR
- 101.9 FM - CHFX (Country 101), country
- 102.7 FM - CBH, CBC Radio Two
- 103.5 FM - CKHZ (Z103.5), rhythmic CHR (Nov 2005)
- 104.3 FM - CFRQ (Q104), rock
- 105.1 FM - CHAL (The Breeze), Soft Rock (Not yet on air)

Demographics

Approximately 18.3% of the population is under the age of 14, whereas those 65 and older make up 11%. Racial make-up
- White: 326,610 or 93.8%
- Black: 10,665 or 3.0%
- mixed race: 4,590 or 1.3%
- Arab: 3,030 or 1.0%
- Chinese: 2,135 or 0.6%
- (based on single responses) Religious make-up
- Protestant 45.38%
- Catholic 37.23%
- Other Christian 1.40%
- Muslim 0.86%
- Christian Orthodox 0.79%
- Jewish 0.44%
- Buddhist 0.42%
- Hindu 0.27%
- Sikh 0.05%
- Eastern Religions 00.10%
- Other Religions 00.17%
- No Religious Affiliation 12.90%

Government

The Halifax Regional Municipality is governed by a mayor (elected at large) and a twenty-three person regional council, who are elected by geographic district; municipal elections occur every leap year. HRM can establish "community councils" where three or more councilors agree to form these councils to deal primarily with local development issues. Most community council decisions are subject to approval by regional council. Council has responsibility for the Halifax Regional Police Department, the Halifax Regional Library, the Halifax Regional Fire Department, Halifax Regional Water Commission, parks and recreation, public works and waste management, among other issues. Two areas of contention during the post-amalgamation years have been in the areas of fire and police services. HRPD is an amalgamation of the municipal forces from the City of Halifax, City of Dartmouth, and Town of Bedford. Areas that were formerly part of the Municipality of Halifax County were previously policed by the RCMP under a provincial policing contract. Since amalgamation, the HRPD has been restricted to primarily the urban core while RCMP still provide rural policing services, as well as highway traffic enforcement. Jurisdictional boundaries have been relaxed in recent years, allowing more integration between both forces to allow for better coverage and response. Unlike policing services, HRFD is an amalgamation of all fire departments in Halifax County. This created some controversy in rural areas where predominantly volunteer fire companies were being stripped of equipment and trucks which local communities had fund-raised for during the pre-amalgamation period; this equipment was being relocated to service the urban core. This has since been halted, although there is still some tension between the professional paid HRFD members in the urban core and their volunteer rural counterparts. The term Haligonians has been borrowed since amalgamation to apply more broadly to all residents of HRM, although many citizens in Dartmouth, Bedford and smaller centres in the municipality tend to avoid use of the term when applied to themselves. In fact, despite amalgamation, most residents of the municipality (and Canada Post) still refer to the names of the pre-amalgamation municipalities when describing geographic areas. Since its creation, rapid property value increases have resulted in HRM's budget growing to $589 million in 2005/06, up from $439 million in 1996. This has allowed HRM to proceed with major capital projects such as an extension of municipally-supplied water to Fall River, breaking ground on the new sewage treatment system (called the Harbour Solutions project), and establishment of Metrolink, a bus rapid transit system. The former city of Halifax is represented in the federal riding of Halifax. Other HRM ridings include Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, Halifax West, Sackville—Eastern Shore, and part of South Shore—St. Margaret's Bay. In the last three provincial elections over 50% of the population of HRM has voted for the provincial New Democratic Party, placing the region's voters outside the mainstream of provincial politics in outlying more rural areas which are split between a Liberal/Conservative voting pattern. It can be argued that HRM's recent voting pattern has actually placed the provincial (and federal) NDP or social-democratic politics in general, into the political mainstream for the province and the Maritimes as a whole.

Transportation

Halifax International Airport, which serves HRM and virtually all of peninsular Nova Scotia, is located in the northern part of the municipality on the border with Hants County in Enfield. HRM is the eastern terminus of the Canadian National Railway, which provides direct freight service to Montreal, Toronto, and Chicago for cargo arriving at either of Halifax's two container terminals, or the port's general cargo and specialized cargo piers. Via Rail Canada also operates the Ocean, a passenger train to Truro, Moncton, and Montreal six days a week. Montreal.]] The urban core area is linked by two suspension bridges: the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, opened in 1955, and the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, opened in 1970. A passenger ferry system also connects the two sides with regular services throughout the day and is the oldest saltwater ferry service operating in North America. High-speed ferries are being planned to connect downtown Halifax with Shannon Park/Bedford, Herring Cove/Purcell's Cove, and Eastern Passage. Traffic is problematic in many older parts of the urban core area for several reasons. The Halifax Peninsula, similar to an island, has several choke points through which any traffic leaving the area must pass:
- the harbour suspension bridges
- the Armdale Rotary
- the Fairview interchange to the Highway 102 freeway
- the Bedford Highway Density is increasing somewhat on the peninsuala, but the population of workers living in suburban areas or commuting from more distant exurban/outlying areas has increased at a much higher rate in recent decades. Roads in existing developed suburban areas and the historic districts on the Halifax Peninsula cannot be easily expanded. A proposed bridge across the Northwest Arm to relieve traffic congestion on the Armdale Rotary (it would connect at South Street near Dalhousie University) has been rejected several times by residents of the affluent South End. A controversial proposal in 2003-04 to widen Robie Street, the major north-south artery on the peninsula, resulted in protests, leading to a compromised, smaller expansion of the road. Many of the newer neighbourhoods benefit from a network of expressways (Nova Scotia 100-series highways) which were designed for modern automobile traffic (Highway 101, Highway 102, Highway 103, Highway 107, Highway 111, and Highway 118) however these roads serve mainly to dump high-speed traffic onto the existing urban low-speed street network. The HRM urban core is served by Metro Transit. The main forms of public transportation are the regular transit buses and a new bus-rapid transit system, as well as the harbour ferries, however the mayor, Peter Kelly, and several regional councillors also favour instituting a commuter rail system on current and abandoned railway lines in the region. This plan would require provincial and federal funding and coordination and is pending the provincial government's creation of a regional transportation planning authority, similar to what eastern Massachusetts did in the 1960s when MBTA was created. A Community Transit bus service is run by Metro Transit, serving the communities of Beaver Bank, Fall River, East Preston, Lake Echo, Porters Lake and Grand Desert. There is no public transit available for residents in the other more rural areas of the municipality, a fact which has become a growing bone of contention in the urban-rural tension within the region. Regional council has also stated an interest in improving bicycle transport in the urban core, however since the 2000 municipal election little has been accomplished. A part-time coordinating position was created to oversee the planning and implementation of a bicycle transport plan but this position was eliminated during budget cuts in 2003 with little other than planning/reporting having been accomplished. Overall, HRM remains fairly difficult for bicycles, partially as a result of geography and climate, but also the increased traffic congestion. Despite these setbacks there has been a small increase in the number of bicycle lanes and designated bike routes in the urban core. There is a perceived belief that car drivers in HRM are unusually courteous in comparison with drivers in other North American cities. There is no empirical evidence to support such a claim, however drivers in the region have been witnessed on occasion to yield to pedestrians crossing the road (even illegally), usually within the downtown urban core of the Halifax Peninsula; this has been colloquially referred to as a "Nova Scotian traffic jam". As with any growing urban area, the increasing traffic congestion has also been leading to more car-pedestrian and car-bicycle accidents. Speeding and street-racing have become major sources of concern for residents in every district within the municipality.

Buildings and structures

Halifax Peninsula The Halifax Regional Municipality has a higher proportion of historic buildings compared with other municipalities in Canada, particularly in the downtown urban core. Preservationists and heritage advocacy organizations have attempted to prevent their demolition by developers in recent decades. Such groups have been critisized for stunting the centralization of urban growth and for stopping buildings from being built on empty land containing little to no historic value. There are currently projects being passed through city council which include two 27 floor hotel and condo towers by United Gulf Developments and a 40 floor, 150 metre tall observation tower. The urban core areas on the Halifax Peninsula and former city of Dartmouth are home to several modern office buildings, however the downtown core area in the former city of Halifax is governed by height restrictions which prevent buildings from obstructing the sight line between Citadel Hill and the Halifax Harbour/Georges Island.

Prominent buildings

In alphabetical order.
- 1801 Hollis Street (22 floors, 87 metres) - 1801 Hollis Street is an office building also located near Halifax's waterfront and is home to many prominent businesses.
- Alderney Landing
- Bank of Commerce Building (16 floors, 66 metres) - Also known as the CIBC building.
- Bank of Montreal Building (18 floors, 73 metres) - The BMO building is located near the waterfront, and is home to the Bank of Montreal in Halifax.
- Fenwick Tower (32 floors, 98 metres) - Fenwick Tower is a residence for the nearby Dalhousie University.
- Halifax Metro Centre - Hockey arena home to the Halifax Mooseheads, with a capacity of 10,000-15,000, depending on the event.
- Loyola Residence Tower (22 floors, 67 metres) - The Loyola Residence Tower is a residence of Saint Mary's University.
- Maritime Center (20 floors, 78 metres) - The Maritime Center is an office building that was formerly the headquarters of Maritime Telephone and Telegraph, which the building was named after.
- Purdy's Wharf Business Centre - An office complex comprised of two towers, a smaller office building, and a parkade located on the waterfront. They use the waters of Halifax Harbour to cool the buildings.
- Tower 1 (20 floors, 74 metres)
- Tower 2 (22 floors, 88 metres)
- Scotia Square Complex - A system of buildings connected by pedways and tunnels. It houses a mall, two hotels, and offices.
- Barrington Tower (20 floors, 84 metres) Office and commercial use. Home of Emera, which operates the Nova Scotia Power Corporation.
- Cogswell Tower (20 floors, 79 metres) Office and commercial use.
- Duke Tower (16 floors, 71 metres) Office and commercial use.
- St. Mary's Basilica - A Roman Catholic church in Downtown Halifax, built in 1820. Recently designated a National Historic Site.
- TD Tower (18 floors, 73 metres) The TD Tower is an office building home to the Toronto Dominion bank in Halifax.
- Tuft's Cove Generating Station (157 metres) - Distinctive striped smokestacks of a fossil-fuel burning electrical generating station.

Neighbourhoods, towns, and villages

- Peninsula
- Africville
- Downtown Halifax
- The Hydrostone
- North End Halifax
- Quinpool district
- South End Halifax
- Spring Garden
- Mainland
- Armdale
- Clayton Park
- Fairview
- Herring Cove
- Purcell's Cove
- Spryfield
- Dartmouth
- Cole Harbour
- Preston
- Port Wallis
- Westphal
- Shannon Park
- Eastern Passage
- Creighton Park
- Manor Park
- Tuft's Cove
- Bedford-Sackville Region
- Bedford
- Fall River
- Lower Sackville
- Wellington
- Outlying suburbs and rural communities
- Eastern Passage
- Enfield
- Fall River
- Glen Haven
- Herring Cove
- Lakeview
- Middle Sackville
- North Preston
- Peggy's Cove
- Preston
- Upper Hammonds Plains
- Waverley

Major parks

- Clam Harbour Beach Provincial Park
- Cleveland Beach Provincial Park
- Cole Harbour -Lawrencetown Coastal Heritage Park System
- Salt Marsh Trail
- Lawrencetown Beach
- Rainbow Haven Beach
- Crystal Crescent Beach Provincial Park
- Dartmouth Commons
- Dollar Lake Provincial Park
- Elderbank Provincial Park
- Halifax Citadel National Historic Site
- Halifax Commons
- Hemlock Ravine
- Herring Cove Provincial Park Reserve
- Kidstone Lake/ Rockingstone Park
- Laurie Provincial Park
- Lewis Lake Provincial Park
- Long Lake Provincial Park
- Mainland Commons
- Martinique Beach Provincial Park
- McCormack Beach Provincial Park
- McNabs Island Provincial Park Reserve
- Moser River Seaside Park
- Musquodoboit Valley Provincial Park
- Oakfield Provincial Park
- Point Pleasant Park
- Porters Lake Provincial Park
- Powder Mill Lake Provincial Park
- Public Gardens
- Queensland Beach Provincial Park
- Second Lake
- Shubie Park
- Sir Sandford Fleming Park
- Spry Bay Provincial Park
- Taylors Head Provincial Park
- West River Sheet Harbour Picnic Park
- William E. Degarthe Provincial Park
- York Redoubt National Historic Site

Sports teams

- Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

- Nova Scotia Keltics of the Rugby Canada Super League

External links

- [http://www.halifolks.cjb.net Halifax Online Community]
- [http://www.halifax.ca/ Halifax Regional Municipality]
- [http://www.trailcanada.com/canada-guides/halifax.asp Guide to Halifax]
- [http://www.trailcanada.com/photos/halifax.asp Photos of Halifax]
- [http://www.hfxnews.ca/ Halifax Daily News]
- [http://www.herald.ns.ca/ Halifax Herald]
- [http://www.thecoast.ca/ The Coast, Halifax's Weekly]
- [http://www.buskers.ca/ International Busker festival]
- [http://www.c100fm.com/ C100 FM]
- [http://www.q104.ca/ Q104]
- [http://www.halifaxwebcam.ca/ Live Webcam of Halifax Harbour] Rugby Canada Super League Rugby Canada Super League
- Category:Regional municipalities in Nova Scotia Category:HRM communities Simple:Halifax, Nova Scotia

Atlantic Standard Time

] The Atlantic Standard Time Zone (AST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting four hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), resulting in UTC-4. In Canada, the provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and small portions of Quebec are part of the Atlantic Standard Time Zone. Officially, the entirety of Labrador is also in the Atlantic Standard Time Zone; however, the southeastern tip of that region unofficially uses Newfoundland Standard Time, the time used on the island of Newfoundland. Other parts of the world that keep time by subtracting four hours from UTC include Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and many other Caribbean islands, as well as Venezuela and parts of Brazil. AST is known as Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT) during daylight saving time, and has one hour added to make it three hours behind UTC (UTC-3).

Major Metropolitan Areas

- Asuncion, Paraguay
- Barquisimeto
- Bridgetown, Barbados
- Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
- Caracas
- Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Ciudad Guayana
- Fredericton, New Brunswick
- Georgetown, Guyana
- Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
- Hamilton, Bermuda
- La Paz, Bolivia
- Manaus
- Maracaibo
- Maracay
- Moncton, New Brunswick
- Port-of-Spain
- Saint John, New Brunswick
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Santiago, Chile
- Santo Domingo
- Sucre, Bolivia
- Valencia, Venezuela

Sources

- [http://www.travel.com.hk/region/timezone.htm World time zone map]
- [http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ntimezones.htm U.S. time zone map]
- [http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/us_tzones.html History of U.S. time zones and UTC conversion]
- [http://www.worldtimezone.com/time-canada12.html Canada time zone map]
- [http://www.istanbulinfolink.com/general_information/worldtime_1.htm Time zones for major world cities] Category:Time zones

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia (Latin for New Scotland; Gaelic:Alba Nuadh; French: Nouvelle-Écosse; Mi'kmaq: Gespogwitg; German: Neuschottland) is a Canadian province located on Canada's south eastern coast. It is the most populous province in Maritimes, and its capital, the Halifax Regional Municipality, is the economic and cultural center of the region. Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada, with an area of only 55,284 km², but its population of 937,889[http://gov.ns.ca/finance/statistics/agency/index.asp] Nova Scotians (or, less formally, Bluenosers) makes it the seventh most populous province. Nova Scotia's economy continues to be largely resource based, but has in recent years become more diverse. Traditional industries such as fishing, mining, forestry and agriculture remain very important, and have been joined by tourism, technology, film production, music and other cultural industries. The territory now known as Nova Scotia was home to the Mi'kmaq when the first European settlers arrived. In 1604, French settlers estabished the first permanent settlement north of Florida at Port Royal, founding what would become known as Acadia. The British Empire obtained control of the region between 1713 and 1760, and established the new capital at Halifax in 1749. Nova Scotia was one of the founding four provinces to join Confederation with Canada in 1867.

History

Paleo-Indians camped at locations in present-day Nova Scotia approximately 11,000 years ago. Archaic Indians are believed to have been present in the area between 1,000 and 5,000 years ago. Mi'kmaq, the First Nations of the province and region, are their direct descendants. The explorer John Cabot visited present-day Cape Breton in 1497. The first European settlement in Nova Scotia was established by French lead by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts. They established the first capital for the colony Acadia at Port Royal in 1604 at the head of the Annapolis Basin. In 1620, the Plymouth Council for New England, under James I of England/James VI of Scotland designated the whole shorelines of Acadia and the Mid-Atlantic colonies south to the Chesapeake Bay as New England. In the latter 1620s, a group of Scots was sent by Charles I of England and Scotland to set up the colony of 'Nova Scotia'. (The Latin appellation was so stated in Sir William Alexander's 1621 land grant.) However owing to the signing of a peace treaty with France, the territory was given to the French and the Scots ordered to abandon their mission before their colony had been properly established. The French took control of the Mi'kmaq and other First Nations territory. In 1654, King Louis XIV of France appointed aristocrat Nicholas Denys as Governor of Acadia and granted him the confiscated lands and the right to all its minerals. British colonists captured Acadia in the course of King William's War but Britain returned it to France at the peace settlement. It was recaptured in the course of Queen Anne's War and its conquest confirmed in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. France retained possession of Île St Jean (Prince Edward Island) and Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) on which it established a fortress at Louisbourg to guard the sea approaches to Quebec. This fortress was captured by American colonial forces, then of returned by the British to France, then ceded again after the French and Indian War. Thus mainland Nova Scotia became a British colony in 1713, although Samuel Vetch had a precarious hold on the territory as governor from the fall of Acadian Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal) in October 1710. British governing officials became increasingly concerned over the unwillingness of the French-speaking, Catholic Acadians, who were the majority of colonists, to pledge allegiance to the British Crown, then George II. The colony remained mostly Acadian despite the settlement of a large number of mostly German foreign Protestants along the South Shore in 1750. In 1755, the British forcibly expelled the Acadians in what became known as the Great Expulsion. The colony's jurisdiction changed during this time. Nova Scotia was granted a supreme court in 1754 with the appointment of Jonathan Belcher and a legislative assembly in 1758. In 1763 Cape Breton Island became part of Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. The county of Sunbury was created in 1765, and included all of the territory of current day New Brunswick and eastern Maine as far as the Penobscot River. In 1784 the western, mainland portion of the colony was separated and became the province of New Brunswick, and the territory in Maine entered the control of the state of Massachusetts. Cape Breton became a separate colony from 1784 to 1820, when it was again joined to Nova Scotia. 1820 Ancestors of more than half of present-day Nova Scotians arrived in the period following the Acadian Expulsion. Approximately 30,000 United Empire Loyalists (American Tories) settled in Nova Scotia (when it comprised present-day Maritime Canada) following the defeat of the British in the American Revolutionary War. Approximately 3,000 of this group were slaves of African ancestry, about a third of which soon relocated themselves to Sierra Leone in 1792. Large numbers of Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots emigrated to Cape Breton and the western portion of the mainland during the late 18th century and 19th century. About one thousand Ulster Scots settled in mainly central Nova Scotia during this time, as did just over a thousand farming migrants from Yorkshire and Northumberland between 1772 and 1775. Nova Scotia was the first colony in British North America and in the British Empire to achieve responsible government in January-February 1848 and become self-governing through the efforts of Joseph Howe. Pro-Confederate premier Charles Tupper led Nova Scotia into the Canadian Confederation in 1867, along with New Brunswick, Quebec, and the Province of Canada. Nova Scotica was the first Province in Canada to vie for independence from Canada. In the Provincial election of 1868, the Anti-Confederation Party won 18 out of 19 Federal seats, and 35 out of 38 seats in the provincial legislature. For seven years, William Annand and Joseph Howe led the ultimately unsuccessful fight to convince British Imperial authorities to release Nova Scotia from Confederation. The government was vocally against Confederation, contending that it was no more than the annexation of the Province to the pre-existing province of Canada: :"the scheme [confederation with Canada] by them assented to would, if adopted, deprive the people [of Nova Scotia] of the inestimable privilege of self-government, and of their rights, liberty, and independence, rob them of their revenue, take from them the regulation of trade and taxation, expose them to arbitrary taxation by a legislature over which they have no control, and in which they would possess but a nominal and entirely ineffective representation; deprive them of their invaluable fisheries, railroads, and other property, and reduce this hitherto free, happy, and self-governed province to a degraded condition of a servile dependency of Canada."(Excerpted from the Address to the Crown by the Government, from the Journal of the House of Assembly, Province of Nova Scotia, 1868) A motion passed by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1868 refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Confederation has never been rescinded. Nova Scotia flags flew at half mast on Canada Day as late as the 1920s, at the end of the Maritime Rights Movement. See also individual articles on Nova Scotia history.

Geography

Nova Scotia history The province's mainland is a peninsula, connected to mainland North America by the Isthmus of Chignecto, and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, including numerous bays and estuaries. Cape Breton Island, a large island to the northeast of the Nova Scotian mainland, is also part of the province, as is Sable Island, a small island notorious for its shipwrecks, approximately 175 km (95 nm)from the province's southern coast. Nova Scotia is Canada's second smallest province in area (after Prince Edward Island), and no point in Nova Scotia is more than 56 km from the sea. See also individual articles on Nova Scotia geography and below for a map.

Ten Largest Municipalities

Map

image:Ns-map.png

Demographics

Population

Nova Scotia is the seventh most populated province in Canada with an estimated 937,889 residents as of July 1, 2005. It accounts for 3% of the population of Canada. The population density is approximately 17 persons/km². Roughly 60% of the population live in rural parts of the province. In about 1861, the population was about 331 000 people and the population of Halifax alone was 29 580.

Employment

Unemployment is at just under 8% of the work force, as of May 2005.

Per capita income

Per capita income is just over $30,000 (Can), of which just over $19,000 is disposable.

Gross Domestic Product

Nova Scotia GDP is presently approximately $29 billion (Can) annually.

National and ethnic origins

According to the most recent federal government census conducted in 2001, 95.4% of Nova Scotians are Canadian born. Of the 4.6% of Nova Scotia residents who had immigrated to Canada, 45% per cent of immigrants were from Asia; 29.3% were from Europe (excluding the United Kingdom); 21.9%, the Middle East; 11.8%, the United States; and 6.8%, the United Kingdom. In the same census, 50.7% of Nova Scotians indicated that their single ethnic origin to be "Canadian", which are mostly made of up of British, Irish and French ancestries. 30.8% indicated it to be "British and Irish"; 7.2%, "European"; 5.5%, "French"; 2.1%, "Black"; 1.9%, "Aboriginal Canadian"; 0.6%, "Arab/West Asian"; 0.4%, "Chinese"; 0.4% "South Asian". Each other category - "Filipino", "Japanese", "Korean", "Latin American", "Southeast Asian", and "Visible minority, n.i.e." - accounts for less than 0.2% of the population makeup. (Statistics source: The statistics presented here were obtained from the [http://www.gov.ns.ca/finance/statistics/agency/index.asp Government of Nova Scotia's statistics website].)

Other facts

South Asian features the schooner Bluenose.]] Nova Scotia is in the Atlantic Standard Time zone. The Bluenose, which appears on the back of the Canadian ten-cent piece (dime) and current Nova Scotia license plate was built in Lunenburg, a town on the South Shore. 500–1000 Nova Scotians today are fluent in Scottish Gaelic. In 2004, Nova Scotia voted to invite Turks and Caicos Islands to join the province, should these Caribbean islands ever become part of Canada. This would bypass the problems with admitting Turks and Caicos as a separate province. In November 1761, a furious storm sent the merchant ship Auguste to its doom, taking with it 114 souls bound for France, and all of their earthly possessions. One of seven survivors, Monsieur St. Luc de la Corne, made an epic trek of almost one-thousand miles in the dead of a Canadian winter back to his family in Montreal. Almost 250 years later, what is left of the Auguste and her valuable cargo of gold and silver lies on the bottom of Cape Breton's Aspy Bay, in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia. Underwater explorer, Joe Amaral, and his team have sifted through the sands of Aspy Bay looking for treasure and answers to what really happened during this devastating shipwreck. So far, they have found several cannon, lead sheathing from repairs to the ship, a few coins, and a spoon.

External links

- [http://www.gov.ns.ca/ Government of Nova Scotia]
- [http://novascotia.com Government of Nova Scotia's official tourism]
- [http://www.novatrails.com Nova Scotia hiking & tourism info]
- [http://explorens.com Explore Nova Scotia tourism info]
- [http://www.novascotialife.com Nova Scotia Come To Life]
- [http://www.courts.ns.ca Courts of Nova Scotia]
- Category:Former British colonies Category:Scottish colonies Category:Peninsulas ko:노바스코샤 주 ja:ノバスコシア州 simple:Nova Scotia zh-min-nan:Nova Scotia

1996

1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty.

Events

January

- January 5 - Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
- January 7 - One of the worst blizzards in American history hits eastern states, killing more than 100.
- January 8 - Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital Kinshasa - 350 dead.
- January 9 - Assassination of Eric Hebborn, art forger, in Rome, Italy.
- January 14 - Jorge Sampaio is elected president of Portugal.
- January 20 - Yasser Arafat is re-elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
- January 22 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece resigns due to health problems. New government forms under Costas Simitis.
- January 24 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charge he spied for Moscow.
- January 26 - Whitewater scandal: Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before a grand jury.
- US millionaire John Dupont shoots wrestler David Schultz
- January 27 - Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
- January 29
- President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear testing.
- Fire destroys La Fenice, Venice's opera house.
- A Greek flag is hoisted above Kardac Rocks, initiating the Imia-Kardak crisis
- Duke Nukem 3D Shareware released to public
- January 30 - Leader of the Irish National Liberation Army Gino Gallagher is killed, in an internal feud, while in line for his unemployment benefit.
- January 30 - February 5 - Sarah Balabagan caned in the United Arab Emirates
- January 31 - An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400.

February

- February - Iraq disarmament crisis: Recently defected Iraqi weapons program leader and son-in-law to Saddam Hussein, Hussein Kamel, returns to Iraq. Within days of his return, he is murdered along with his brother, father, sister and her children. Kamel had forced Iraq to reveal portions of its illegal nuclear and chemical weapons programs.
- February 1 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
- February 4 - Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ties all-time low temperature at -26°F. (-32°C)
- February 8 - The Telecom Reform Act is signed into law by United States President Bill Clinton.
- February 9 - IRA ceasefire ends with 1 one-ton bomb in London's Canary Wharf District - 2 dead.
- February 10 - Chess computer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time.
- February 17 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats the "Deep Blue" supercomputer in a chess match.
- February 18 - IRA briefcase bomb in London bus kills the bomber and injures 9 in London West End.
- February 29 - Daniel Green convicted of murder of James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan.

March

Michael Jordan.]]
- March - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces refuse UNSCOM inspection teams access to five sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to 17 hours.
- March 2 - John Howard is elected Prime Minister of Australia in a landslide election victory, over the Labor Party's Paul Keating.
- March 13 - The Dunblane Massacre.
- March 17 - Sri Lanka win the Cricket World Cup by storming to a famous victory against the tournament favourites Australia.
- March 19 - Sarajevo becomes a united city again when Bosnian authorities took control of the last district held by Serbs.
- March 20
- In Los Angeles, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
- The British Government announces that Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was likely to have been transmitted to people.
- March 23 - The Republic of China on Taiwan holds its first direct elections for president. Lee Teng-hui is reelected.
- March 25 - An 81-day long standoff between antigovernment Freemen in Jordan, Montana and federal officers begins.
- March 26 - The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for 'economic reform'.
- March 28 - Fire breaks out at the Pasar Anyar shopping centre in Bogor, West Java. First estimated death toll is 78 until rescuers notice that 68 of them are mannequins
- March 30 - The Kennett government is re-elected in Victoria with a 30 seat majority.

April

- April 2 - US Mafioso John Gotti is found guilty of murder of Paul Castellano
- April 3 - Plane carrying US commerce secretary Ron Brown crashes near Dubrovnik, Croatia
- April 3
- Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.
- The first EuroHowl is held in Aberystwyth, Wales.
- A Lunar eclipse occurred.
- April 10 - United States President Bill Clinton vetos a bill that would have banned partial-birth abortion.
- April 18 - Over 100 Lebanese civilians were killed after Israel shelled the UN compound in Qana. See Qana Massacre.
- April 28 - Martin Bryant kills 35 people as part of the Port Arthur Massacre, at the Port Arthur tourist site, Tasmania, Australia.
- April 29 - Official opening of Rent (musical) on Broadway.

May

- May 10 - A sudden storm engulfs Mount Everest with several climbing teams high on the mountain, leaving 8 dead. By the end of the month, at least four other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.
- May 11 - After taking-off from Miami, a fire started by improperly-handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board.
- May 13 - Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kills 600.
- May 20 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of homosexuals.
- May 23 - Swede Göran Kropp reaches Mount Everest summit alone without oxygen after having bicycled there from Sweden.
- May 27 - First Chechnya War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire in the war.
- May 27 - Doctor Who makes its return to British television for the first time since 1989. Paul McGann starred in the US made movie which pitted the Doctor against Eric Roberts' Master.
- May 31 - id Software releases the first person shooter computer game Quake.
- May-June - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM supervises the destruction of Al-Hakam, Iraq's main production facility of biological warfare agents.
- May - The Onion launches its satirical news publication on the Internet.

June

- June - Iraq disarmament crisis: As Iraq continues to refuse inspectors access to a number of sites, the U.S. fails in its attempt to build support for military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council.
- June 1 - Tennessee celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- June 10 - Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin
- June 12 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet. The panel says that the 1996 Communications Decency Act would infringe upon the free speech rights of adults.
- June 13 - An 81-day standoff between the Freemen and FBI agents ends with their surrender in Montana.
- June 15- A large bomb explosion devastates Manchester City Centre in England.
- June 25 - 19 U.S. servicemen are killed at Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
- June 30 - Costas Simitis is elected President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.
- June 30 - Germany beat the Czech Republic 2-1 with a Golden goal to win Euro 96.

July

Euro 96
- July - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. Inspector Ritter attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport, but is blocked by Iraqi officials.
- July 1 - The Northern Territory in Australia legalises voluntary euthanasia.
- July 5 - Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, is born. It will prematurely die in February 2003.
- July 8 - Martina Hingis youngest person in history (age 15 years and 282 days) to win at Wimbledon (Ladies Doubles event).
- July 8 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu purportedly receives a hand-delivered document, "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Security the Realm," spelling out how Israel could abrogate the Oslo Accords, and pursue a permanent annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, among other policies. The paper had been prepared for him by Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Doug Feith, David Wurmser and John R. Bolton.
- July 17 - Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound Boeing 747 carrying TWA flight 800 explodes killing all 230 on board.
- July 18 - 21 - Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec, in one of Canada's most costly natural disasters.
- July 19 - The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is opened by US president Bill Clinton.
- July 27 - The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics kills one and injures 111.
- July 29 - The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) is struck down as too broad by a US federal court.
- July 31 - MIL-STD-1750A was declared inactive for use in new designs.

August

The Detroit of India and port city Madras is renamed Chennai.
- August 1 - Sarah Balabagan returns to the Philippines
- August 4 - The closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics takes place.
- August 6 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms
- August 6 - Australian census
- August 6 - The Ramones play their last show ever at Lollapalooza.
- August 13 - Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicated there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons
- August 28 - Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the High Court in London. Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled, Diana, Princess of Wales.
- August 31 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces launch an offensive into the northern No-Fly Zone and capture Arbil.

September

- September 4 - War on Drugs: Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.
- September 7 - Rapper Tupac Shakur shot in Las Vegas, Nevada following Mike Tyson bout. He would succumb 6 nights later on September 13.
- September 11 - Aubrey Berryhill and Ashton Cayado won the Nobel prize.
- September 22 - The Panhellenic Socialist Movement under the leadership of Costas Simitis succeeds in the Greek legislative election, 1996.
- September 25 - The last of the Magdalen Asylums was closed in Ireland.
- September 25 - Nicu Ceauşescu dies from cirrhosis of the liver in a Viennese hospital. He was the younger son of Nicolae Ceauşescu.
- September 27 - In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

October

- October 2 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
- October 2 - Assassination of the former prime minister of Bulgaria, Andrei Lukanov
- October 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 40.62 to close at 6,010.00 -- The Dow's first close above 6,000.
- October 23 - Opening statements in the O.J. Simpson civil trial begin.
- October 30 - Fighting erupts when Banyamulenga Tutsis of Laurent Kabila in Zaire seize Uvira and proceed to kill Hutu refugees

November

- November - Iraq disarmament crisis: UNSCOM inspectors uncover buried prohibited missile parts. Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM teams to remove remnants of missile engines for analysis outside of the country
- November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1996: Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton defeats Republican challenger Bob Dole to win his second term.
- November 7 - NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
- November 15 - Alger Hiss, former U.S. State Department official
-