The database currently contains 7367 historical events.
- Roger Miller was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
- Celine Dion reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with her fourteenth studio album Falling into You. The album reached No. 1 in thirteen countries and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
- The first Concert to Benefit the Pedro Zamora Foundation was held. Performers included Joan Osborne, Soul Asylum, Jewel, Extra Fancy, The Presidents of the United States of America, and Dog's Eye View, along with other artists. The proceeds were intended to educate children about AIDS. Pedro Zamora had died two years earlier from an AIDS-related illness and had been a cast member of MTV's The Real World: San Francisco.
- “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by American band Deep Blue Something reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart on October 5, 1996. In the United States, the song reached No. 5, and its title refers to the classic 1961 Audrey Hepburn film Breakfast at Tiffany's.
- Neal McCoy and his wife Melinda held a concert at Longview High School Coliseum in Longview, Texas, raising $150,000 for the East Texas Angel Network. Bryan White, Troy Aikman, Joe Avezzano and Bob Kingsley also contributed. The organization provided financial assistance to families with seriously ill children for medical treatment and related expenses.
- Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were married.
- During the Ghost of Tom Joad tour, Bruce Springsteen sold out his solo acoustic performance at the 2,600-seat Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, North Carolina, in just eight minutes.
- Scottish singer and songwriter Lewis Capaldi was born in Glasgow. His single “Someone You Loved” reached No. 1 on the UK chart for seven weeks in 2019 and also reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November of the same year.
- Michael Jackson performed at El Menzah Stadium in Tunis before approximately 60,000 spectators during his HIStory tour. It was his first concert performance in Africa, and the tour subsequently continued in Asia.
- Pearl Jam fan Mark Zupan crowd-surfed his way to the stage in a wheelchair during the band's concert at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. He later became captain of the US wheelchair rugby team and appeared in the film Murderball.
- The Rock the Vote campaign, focused on registering young voters in the United States, received support from the NFL. Quarterbacks Jeff Blake, Drew Bledsoe, Jim Kelly, and Steve Young recorded public service announcements supporting the campaign.
- Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne performed at a benefit concert for environmental organizations at the Britt Pavilion in Jacksonville, Oregon. Their performance was accompanied by the noise of chainsaws from loggers who opposed their efforts to restrict their livelihoods.
- Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct in connection with heroin use with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, who subsequently died of an overdose. Chamberlin was fired from the band but returned in 1999.
- Maxwell sold out a concert at the Roxy Theater, which had to be moved from the smaller Cotton Club because of overwhelming demand.
- The U.S. albums chart features an unusual top three: Celine Dion’s Falling Into You is No. 1, Kenny G’s The Moment is No. 2, and Marilyn Manson’s Antichrist Superstar is No. 3.
- British-Australian singer Peter Andre reaches No. 1 on the UK albums chart with his second studio album, Natural.
- The Chemical Brothers reach No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Setting Sun,” featuring vocals by Noel Gallagher of Oasis.
- After nearly 28 years, the concert film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, filmed in December 1968, is released. Alongside the Rolling Stones, it features The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, and Marianne Faithfull. John Lennon and Yoko Ono perform with the group Dirty Mac. The Rolling Stones had long delayed its release, reportedly partly because they feared The Who’s performance had overshadowed their own.