Unix Timestamp: 827798400
Tuesday, March 26. 1996, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Three British soldiers are found guilty of the manslaughter of Danish tour guide Louise Jensen in Cyprus. Allan Ford, Justin Fowler and Geoffrey Pernell receive life sentences for the September, 1994 rape/murder.

Major League Soccer kicks off in front of an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed in Spartan Stadium, to witness the historic first game. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scores the league's first goal in a 1–0 victory over D.C. United.

Massacres of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi take place, with more than 450 killed in a few days.

Fighting breaks out in Monrovia, Liberia, between various rebel factions struggling for power in the country's interrupted civil war. Several foreign nationals leave the nation.

The International Monetary Fund approves a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for economic reform.

An overcrowded ferry sinks off the coast of Irois, Haiti, killing more than 200 people.

In a common statement, the European Union officially recognized the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

A Boeing 737 military jet crashes into a mountain north of Dubrovnik, Croatia. All 35 people on board die, including United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown (see 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash).

Fire breaks out at the Pasar Anyar shopping centre in Bogor, West Java. The first death toll estimate is 78 until rescuers notice that 68 of them are mannequins.

Turkish authorities begin Operation Hawk, an army offensive against rebels from the Kurdish Worker's Party in southeastern Turkey.

Suspected Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.

The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created.