996 The 996 was the car that killed the air-cooled flat six, usurping the far more desirable 993 that preceded it. The 996 replaced the 911's iconic round headlights with a shape vaguely reminiscent of a runny fried egg. The 996 came from the factory with a fatal flaw that could result in catastrophic engine failure.
998 998BC Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescentius II (the Younger) and his followers barricade themselves in Castel Sant'Angelo. Otto's former tutor John Philagathos (Antipope JohnXVI), who tries to escape into Campania, is pursued by German troops and captured. He is horribly mutilated – his ears, nose and tongue cut off and his eyes are gouged out. Crescentius surrenders at his stronghold and is beheaded. Otto reinstates his cousin, Gregory V, as pope of the Catholic Church.