Daytona Countdown: '96

Jarrett beats Earnhardt; Nicklaus, Palmer, Woods paired at Augusta

For the third time in four years -- and in a repeat of the 1993 race -- Dale Earnhardt wound up second at the checkered flag. Dale Jarrett was able to block Earnhardt's passing attempts on the final lap of the 38th Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 1996.

NASCAR ACCELERATION •   Know Your NASCAR •   Tickets for Daytona •   2004 Daytona 500 highlights •   Get TrackPass for 2005! ALSO IN 1996 ... •   Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress (Feb. 1)  •   In Los Angeles, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents (March 20)  •   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 12)  •   Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound Boeing 747 carrying TWA flight 800 explodes killing all 230 on board (July 17)  •   The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics kills one and injures 111 (July 27)  Courtesy: Wikipedia

Earnhardt was the fastest qualifier and continued his streak of seven consecutive qualifying race wins but couldn't find a way to get his Chevrolet past Jarrett's Ford.

A 1996 Ford Mustang Cobra two-door coupe retailed for $24,810. With his check for $360,775, Jarrett could have purchased 14 Mustang Cobras.

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods were paired for the 1996 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga. If Jarrett had wanted to make it a foursome at Augusta National, the 218-mile trip from his hometown of Hickory, N.C. would have taken a little under four hours in the Mustang -- or one hour and 25 minutes at Jarrett's race-winning speed of 154.308 mph.

President Bill Clinton had a busy year. In addition to opening the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, he signed into law the Telecom Reform Act, committed $100 million to an anti-terrorism agreement with Israel and defeated Republican challenger Bob Dole in the November election. He also testified as a defense witness in the Whitewater hearings.

On July 23, Raleigh's WRAL-TV transmitted the first digital television signal. By the end of the year, Zenith introduced the first HDTV-compatible front projection television in the United States. In 1996, over a billion households worldwide owned television sets.

Midwesterners had little alternative than to watch television during the Blizzard of 1996. On Feb. 4, Milwaukee tied its all-time low temperature at minus-26 degrees.

In August, NASA announced that a meteorite thought to have originated from Mars contained evidence of primitive life-forms. Also that month, data sent back from the Galileo space probe indicated there may be water on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.

The highest temperature recorded by Viking landers on Mars was 1 degree, with a low of minus-178. Europa's high temperature is estimated at minus-170.

Westside Connections, featuring Ice Cube, Mack 10 and W.C., released the multi-platinum album "Bow Down" in 1996. Rapper Tupac Shakur was iced by an assassin's bullet following the Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas on Sept. 7. He died six days later. Tupac Shakur's song "Last Wordz" featured Ice Cube and Ice-T and mentioned Pat Sajak and Dan Quayle.

The relationship for England's royal couple turned decidedly icy, as the Prince and Princess of Wales were formally divorced on Aug. 28.

The term "refrigerator" was used for the first patented ice box in 1830.

On May 23, Goran Kropp reached the summit of Mount Everest alone and without oxygen after having pedaled his bicycle from Sweden.

On July 5, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell, was born. In 1996, Barbie and Ken dolls were packaged in a 30th anniversary Star Trek set, dressed in the original Star Trek uniforms. Scientists believe that if a real "transporter" could be built, it would in essence create a clone of the person at one end and destroy the original at the other.

IBM's Deep Blue chess computer made history on Feb. 10, defeating chess master Garry Kasparov for the first time. Kasparov, however, won three of the six matches, with two ending in draws. The Broadway musical "Chess" debuted on April 28, 1988, and ran for 68 performances.

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