THE BEST OF 1996/PEOPLE

15 WHO HAD THEIR 15 MINUTES

THIS TIME NEXT YEAR YOU PROBABLY WON'T REMEMBER THE NAMES OF THESE 15 HUMANS, BUT THEY'LL NEVER FORGET THEIR BRIEF FLASH OF FAME

BY CONTRIBUTORS GINIA BELLAFANTE, RICHARD CORLISS, CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, PAUL GRAY, BELINDA LUSCOMBE, JOSHUA QUITTNER, RICHARD SCHICKEL, MICHAEL WALSH, STEVE WULF, RICHARD ZOGLIN

IZZY Olympics are over, so he has gone back to wherever it is whatever he is goes

LOS DEL RIO After years of songs for homesick Spaniards, they do the Macarena

SHERRY ROWLANDS Luckily for Dick Morris, toes can't talk. Unluckily, she could

DOMINIQUE MOCEANU At 14, she has one autobiography but no individual Olympic medals

ANDREW GOLOTA His riot-causing low blows to Riddick Bowe shamed even boxers

FILI HOUTEMAN How could a daughter of Grace Kelly be cuckolded by a stripper?

PAT CHOATE Agreed to be Perot's No. 2 even after James ("Why Am I Here?") Stockdale

PHYLLIS MACEY She got some attention this year--apparently a first for the first Mrs. Dole

RICHARD JEWELL Not a bomber, it turned out--just a bummer for the FBI and NBC

PAIGE GOODMAN She sued to be sole valedictorian. Now there's a serious student

MANDY ALLWOOD She tried to bear a full set of octuplets, paid for by an English tabloid

JEAN HOUSTON She helped Hillary "talk" to Eleanor R. so she could "write" her "book"

JOHNATHAN PREVETTE Kissed a girl and made the teachers cry "Sexual harassment!"

BINTI-JUA Although cradling her own baby at the time, she rescued a junior member of another species (ours) who fell into her cage. Maybe more humans should ape her

MOMMIE DEAREST 2026?

This was a boom year for celebrity babies. Diane Keaton, Wynonna Judd, Natasha Richardson and Melanie Griffith all brought home bundles of joy, some born to them, some adopted. Here's a look at the cream of 1996's star litter:

PARENTS OFFSPRING BIGGEST LIFE CHALLENGE?

Madonna and Lourdes Maria Keeping as fit Carlos Leon as Ma and Pa

Sylvester Stallone Sophia Rose Scary trips to and Jennifer Flavin Granny's house

Pamela and Tommy Lee Brandon Thomas Being weaned

Michael Jackson Still pending Let's just say that and Debbie Rowe Dad's lipstick is the least of it