-- During 1996
[Utah] Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is created by President Clinton. (1)
Overcrowded highways along the Wasatch Front force the governor and Legislature to address raising taxes to pay for rebuilding of I-15 in northern Utah in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics. (1)
Utah celebrates its 100's birthday of Statehood. The year is filled with parades, balls, county histories and other activities to celebrate Utah's entrance into the Union. (1)
[Utah Historical Society] A program manager promotes the use of society collections, while a Utah Centennial Commission is planning a statehood observance and new histories for 1996. The library contains more than 43,000 books, periodicals, pamphlets, and maps as well as 3,000 linear feet of manuscripts, 28,000 photographs, and 3,000 rolls of microfilm. The Utah State History Museum holds 3,500 artifacts and an art collection. (2)
-- During 1997 January
The Church in Africa reached a milestone when the 100,000th member on the continent was baptized. The milestone marked the almost doubling of the membership in Africa in six years. (3)
-- During January 1997
John Hughes becomes the first non-LDS editor of the Deseret News. (4)
-- Feb 23, 1997
[U.S. Religious History] The birth of Dolly the sheep, which actually occurred the previous year, was announced to the world. Dolly was the first mammal cloned from an adult. (5)
-- Mar 05, 1997
[U.S. Religious History] The US House of Representatives voted 295-125 to support Judge Roy Moore, a local judge in Alabama who has refused to remove a Ten Commandments plaque from his courtroom. Alabama Gov. Fob James has promised to deploy the National Guard and state troopers rather than see the display come down. (5)
-- Mar 9, 1997
Chile became the fourth nation in the world to have 100 or more stakes, with the creation of the Puerto Varas Chile Stake. (3)
-- Mar 23, 1997
[U.S. Religious History] Thirty-nine members of the Heaven's Gate cult in California began committing mass suicide in anticipation of the arrival of comet Hale-Bopp. The suicides would take place in three groups over the course of three days. (5)
-- Apr 5, 1997
During general conference, the organization of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Quorums of the Seventy was announced. Area Authorities were then ordained as Seventies, and their titled changed to Area Authority Seventy. (3)
Area authorities, now area authority seventies, grouped into Third, Fourth, and Fifth Quorums of the Seventy. (6)
-- Apr 7, 1997
Brigham Young University‘s NewsNet provides first English audio Internet broadcast of Church General Conference. Newsnet adds several languages in 1998 but discontinues the feeds in 2002 after lds.org offers its own audio and video feeds. (4)
Footnotes:
1 - History to Go, Utah Today, http://historytogo.utah.gov/timeline/utahtoday.html
2 - Utah History Encyclopedia: Utah Historical Society, http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/u/UTAHSTATEHISTORICAL.html
3 - Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html
4 - Sherry Baker: Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, http://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=7984
5 - Cline, Austin, History of American Religion: Timeline
6 - Hemidakaota, "Church Chronology from 1800-2000," http://www.lds.net/forums/scripture-study-forum/12108-church-chronology-1800-2000-part-1-a.html#post214550
Mormon History Timeline /Chronology
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
