2003

2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also:

• The International Year of Freshwater
• The European Disability Year

Years: 2000 2001 2002 - 2003 - 2004 2005 2006

Decades: 1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s

Centuries: 20th century - 21st century - 22nd century

Events

January events

• January 1
  • Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil.
  • Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland
• January 15 - The United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft allowing the extension of copyright terms in the U.S.
• January 24 - The new United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
• January 25 - Central Line train crashes into the tunnel wall at Chancery Lane station in London, injuring 34 people.
• January 25 - An international group of volunteers left London and headed for Baghdad to act as voluntary human shields, hoping to avert a U.S. invasion.
• January 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic release a statement, the letter of the eight, demonstrating support for the United States' plans for an invasion of Iraq.

February events

• February 1
  • The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry, killing all seven astronauts onboard
  • In Northern Ireland, The Protestant UDA Belfast leader John Gregg is killed by a loyalist faction
• February 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.
• February 9 - Cricket World Cup begins in South Africa
• February 15 - Global protests against war on Iraq - more than six million people protest in over 600 cities worldwide, the largest war protest to take place before the war occurred.
• February 26 - An American businessman is admitted to the Vietnam France Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. WHO doctor Carlo Urbani report the unusual highly contagious disease to WHO. Both the businessman and Carlo Urbani die of SARS in March.

March events

• March 1
  • Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Arab Emirates calls for Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to step down to avoid war. The sentiment is later echoed by Bahrain and Kuwait
  • The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service moves to the United States Department of Homeland Security
  • Boxer Roy Jones Jr. beats John Ruiz to become WBA champion
  • War on Terrorism: Authorities in Pakistan capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks along with money man Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi.
  • Ohio celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
• March 5 - The Supreme Court of the United States by a 5-4 margin upholds California's "three strikes and you're out" law.
• March 11 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi fighters threaten two U.S. U-2 surveillance planes, flying missions for U.N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base.
• March 12
  • Zoran Djindjic assassinated in Belgrade
  • WHO issues a global alert on SARS.
  • Iraq disarmament crisis: British prime minister Tony Blair proposes an amendment to the possible 18th U.N. resolution, which would call for Iraq to meet certain benchmarks to prove that it was disarming. The amendment is immediately rejected by France, who promises to veto any new resolution.
• March 13 - Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints had been found in Italy
• March 15 - Hu Jintao becomes president of the People's Republic of China, replacing Jiang Zemin.
• March 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United States, Britain, Portugal, and Spain meet at a summit in the Azores Islands. U.S. President Bush calls Monday, March 17th, the "moment of Truth", meaning that the "coalition of the willing" would make its final effort to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council that would give Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or to be disarmed by force.
• March 16 - Largest co-ordinated worldwide vigil as part of the global protests against war on Iraq.
• March 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush gives an ultimatum: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons must either leave Iraq, or face military action at a time of the U.S.'s choosing
• March 19 - First American bombs dropped on Baghdad, Iraq. President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not comply with President Bush's 48 hour mandate demanding their exit from Iraq.
• March 20 - 2003 Iraq war: Land troops from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invade Iraq.
• March 22 - The United States and the United Kingdom begin their shock and awe campaign with a massive air strike on military targets in Baghdad.
• March 23 - Cricket World Cup ends as Australia wins over India in Centurion, South Africa.
• March 29 - WHO doctor Carlo Urbani, who first identified SARS, dies of the disease.

April events

• April 3 - Passenger bus hits remote-controlled land mine in the Chechen capital, killing at least 8.
• April 9 - U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, apparently ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.
• April 17 - The Stevens Report concludes that members of the RUC and British Army cooperated with the UDA against Catholics in Northern Ireland
• April 21 - Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.

May events

• May 1 - George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, where he gave a speech announcing end of major combat in the Iraq war.
• May 12 - Suicide truck-bomb attack kills at least 60 at a government compound in northern Chechnya.
• May 14 - Female suicide bomber blows up explosives strapped to her waist in crowd of thousands of Muslim pilgrims, killing at least 18 people in Chechnya.
• May 23 - The birth of Dewey, the first cloned deer by scientists at the Texas A&M University
• May 26 - A draft of the proposed European constitution is unveiled.
• May 28 - The birth of Prometea, the first cloned horse by scientists Italian scientists.
• May 31 - Eric Rudolph, the suspected person to have carried out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing is captured in North Carolina behind a Save-A-Lot store.

June events

• June 1 - The People's Republic of China begins filling the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam, raising the water level near the dam over 100 meters.
• June 4 - Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and then obstructing a federal investigation. Stewart also resigned as chairperson and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living.
• June 5 - Female suicide bomber detonates bomb near a bus carrying soldiers and civilians to a military airfield in Mozdok, a major staging point for Russian troops in Chechnya, killing at least 16 people.
• June 15 - 2003 NBA Finals end San Antonio Spurs def New Jersey Nets 4 games to 2.
• June 22 - The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska, USA.
• June 23 - U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in university admissions in Grutter v. Bollinger
• June 26 - U.S. Supreme Court rules sodomy laws unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas

July events

• July 1 - 500,000 Hong Kong people march to protest Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, which redefined treason controversially.
• July 2 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is declared the Host City for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010.
• July 5
  • SARS is declared to be contained by WHO.
  • Double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert kills the female attackers and 15 other people.
• July 6 - Residents of Corsica reject a referendum for increased autonomy for the region from France by a very narrow margin.
• July 7 - Canon Jeffrey John, first would-be gay bishop in the Church of England, withdraws his acceptance of the post of The Bishop of Reading after discussions with the church leaders
• July 10 - Russian security agent dies in Moscow while trying to defuse a bomb a woman had tried to carry into a cafe on central Moscow main street.
• July 16 - The Corsicans rejected a referendum for increased autonomy from France by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against, and 49.02 percent for.
• July 18 Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and proposes the first European constitution
  • The body of Dr. David Kelly's, a scientist at the Ministry of Defence, is found a few miles from his home, leading to the Hutton inquiry
• July 23 - Operation Warrior Sweep is the first major military deployment of the Afghan National Army
• July 24 - The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, Operation Helpem Fren, lead by Australia, begins in the Solomon Islands
• July 30 - The last old-style Volkswagen Beetle rolls off its production line in Puebla, Mexico.

August events

• August 1 - Suicide bomber rams truck filled with explosives into a military hospital near Chechnya, killing 50 people, including Russian troops wounded in Chechnya.
• August 2 - The United Nations authorizes an international peacekeeping force for Liberia.
• August 11
  • NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
  • Jemaah Islamiah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
• August 14
  • Widespread power outage affects northeast United States and Canada.
  • 6.4 Richter scale earthquake near the Greek Ionian island of Lefkada - 24 injured
• August 25 - 52 killed in two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.
• August 27 - Perigee of Mars

September events

• September 5 - Roller coaster accident at Disneyland injures 10 and kills one.
• September 10 - Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh is stabbed in a Stockholm department store and dies the next day.
• September 14
  • Sweden rejects adopting the Euro in a referendum. (Results.)
  • Estonia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
• September 15 - ELN kidnaps 8 foreign tourists in the Ciudad Perdida - they demand a human rights investigation and release last of the hostages three months later
• September 16 - Two suicide bombers drive a truck laden with explosives into a government security services building near Chechnya, killing three people and injuring 25.
• September 27 - Smart 1 is launched.
• september 28 - a power failure affected all of Italy except Sardinia, cutting service to more than 56 million people.

October events

• October 7 - 2003 California recall: Voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
• October 15 - China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned space mission.
• October 18 - 2003 World Series stars Florida Marlins vs. New York Yankees.
• October 23 - Luis A. Ferre, the third Democratically Elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 99.
• October 24 - Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic travel to a close, at least for the time being.
• October 25
  • 2003 World Series ends Florida Marlins def New York Yankees 4 games to 2.
  • Cedar Fire begins in San Diego County burning 280,000 acres (1,100 km²), 2,232 homes and killing 14
• October 31 - Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power.

November events

• November 5 - Gary Ridgway, The "Green River Killer", confesses murders of 48 women
• November 9 - Lunar eclipse (the Americas, Europe, Africa, Central Asia)
• November 12 - Occupation of Iraq: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 Iraq war are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.
• November 15 - Two car bombs explode simultaneously in Istanbul, Turkey targeting two synagogues, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 300; Al-Qaida claims responsibility.
• November 18
  • US President George W. Bush makes a state visit to London in the midst of massive protests.
  • Goodridge et al. v. Department of Public Health rules anti-same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional in Massachusetts
• November 20
  • Several bombs explode in Istanbul, Turkey destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Holdings and the British consulate.
  • Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation, a charge that can carry an 8 year jail term.
• November 22 - England wins the Rugby Union World Cup defeating Australia 20-17 after extra time.
• November 23
  • Georgian Rose Revolution ends with overwhelming victory - president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over fraudulent elections.
  • Total solar eclipse (Antarctica)
• November 24 - The High Court in Glasgow imposes a minimum sentence of 27 years for Al Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
• November 26 - Last ever flight by Concorde.

December events

• December 1
  • The use of hand-held mobile phones while driving is made illegal in the United Kingdom.
  • Boeing chairman and CEO Phil Condit resigns unexpectedly. He is replaced by Lewis Platt as non-executive chairman and Harry Stonecipher as president and CEO.
• December 5 - Suicide bombing on commuter train in southern Russia kills 44 people. President Vladimir Putin condemns attack as bid to destabilize the country two days before Parliamentary election.
• December 7 - Parliamentary election in Russia.
• December 9 - Female suicide bomber blows herself up outside Moscow's National Hotel, across from the Kremlin and Red Square, killing five bystanders.
• December 12
  • Paul Martin becomes the 21st Prime Minister of Canada
  • Olympic Airlines, Greece's new flag carrier is launched.
• December 13 - Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, is captured in Tikrit by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
• December 16 - The United Kingdom announces plans to build a new runway at Stansted Airport in Essex and a short-haul runway at Heathrow Airport sparking anger from environmental groups.
• December 18 - The Soham Murder Trial ends at the Old Bailey in London with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend, Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
• December 20 - Libya admits that it was building a nuclear bomb.
• December 22
  • An earthquake shakes up California, killing two people.
  • Parmalat is first accused of falsifying accounts to the tune of USD $5 billion, later admitted by founder Calisto Tanzi; observers call it "Europe's Enron".
• December 23 - A terrier belonging to Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attacks and kills a corgi belonging to Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal Family gather at Sandringham for Christmas.
• December 24
  • A BSE outbreak in Washington state is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia and Taiwan place a ban on the import of beef from the United States of America.
  • At the request of the US Embassy in Paris, the French Government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the US in response to terrorist concerns.
  • The Spanish police thwarts an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 PM on Christmas Eve inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
• December 25
  • Queen Elizabeth II broadcasts a Christmas message to the British Commonwealth paying tribute to British troops in Iraq. Pope John Paul II's Christmas message calls for peace in the Middle East.
  • Beagle 2 is scheduled to land on Mars, but nothing is heard from the lander.
  • The President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, escapes the second assassination attempt in two weeks.
• December 26 - A massive earthquake devastates southeastern Iran. Over 40,000 people are reported to have been killed in the city of Bam.
• December 31 - The world's largest Hogmanay party in the Scottish capital Edinburgh is cancelled twenty minutes before midnight due to bad weather.

Births

• April 29 - Maud Angelica Behn, daughter of Ari Behn and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway
• November 8 - Lady Louise Windsor, daughter of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex
• December 7 - Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, first daughter of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands

Deaths

For more deaths see: Deaths in 2003

January-March

• January 1 - Joe Foss, politician, fighter pilot, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
• January 5 - Roy Jenkins, British politician
• January 12 - Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator
• January 12 - Maurice Gibb, Anglo-Australian musician, one-third of the Bee Gees
• January 23 - Nell Carter, singer, actress
• January 24 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian entrepreneur and president of Fiat (b. 1921)
• January 26 - George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (b. 1931)
• January 29 - Frank Moss, US Senator from Utah (b. 1911)
• February 1 - The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia; Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Rick D. Husband, Willie McCool, Ilan Ramon
• February 14 - Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal
• February 14 - Johnny Longden, jockey
• February 19 - Johnny PayCheck, country music singer
• February 20 - Orville Lothrop Freeman, Governor of Minnesota and Secretary of Agriculture for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
• February 25 - Alberto Sordi, Italian comedy film legend
• February 27 - Fred McFeely Rogers, 74, "Mister Rogers" of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
• February 27 - John Lanchbery, American ballet composer (b. 1923)
• February 28 - Chris Brasher, athlete
• February 28 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, former President of El Salvador
• March 8 - Adam Faith, British singer and actor (b. 1940)
• March 8 - Karen Morley, actress
• March 9 - Stan Brakhage, filmmaker
• March 9 - Bernard Dowiyogo, president of Nauru (b. 1946)
• March 12 - Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia (assassinated)
• March 15 - Dame Thora Hird, British actress
• March 16 - Rachel Corrie, American activist, member of the International Solidarity Movement
• March 16 - Major Ronald Ferguson, father of Sarah, Duchess of York
• March 24 - Hans Hermann Groër, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (1986 - 1995)
• March 26 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, United States Senator from New York
• March 29 - Carlo Urbani, WHO doctor who discovered SARS
• March 30 - Valentin Pavlov, former prime minister of the Soviet Union

April-June

• April 1 - Leslie Cheung, 46, Hong Kong singer/actor
• April 17 - Dr. Robert Atkins, developed the Atkins Nutritional Approach
• April 17 - Paul Getty, philanthropist
• April 22 - Martha Griffiths, Congresswoman, women's rights proponent
• April 23 - Bernard Katz, biophysicist, Nobel Prize winner
• April 26 - Peter Stone, Oscar- and (3-time)Tony-winning writer
• April 29 - Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (b. 1921)
• May 9 - Russell B. Long, US Senator from Louisiana
• May 10 - Milan Vukcevich, chemist and chess problem composer
• May 11 - Noel Redding, bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• May 12 - Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1965 - 1977
• May 13 - John Savage, former Premier of Nova Scotia
• May 14 - Dame Wendy Hiller, British actress (b. 1912)
• May 14 - Robert Stack, actor
• May 15 - June Carter Cash, musician, singer, wife of Johnny Cash
• May 18 - Anna Santisteban, legendary figure in the Miss Universe contests
• May 21 - Frank D. White, governor of Arkansas
• May 28 - Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut
• May 28 - Ilya Prigogine, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977
• May 28 - Martha Scott, American actress
• June 10 - Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary during the Reagan administration
• June 10 - Bernard Williams, British philosopher (b. 1929)
• June 12 - Gregory Peck, American actor (b. 1916)
• June 24 - Maynard Jackson, former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
• June 24 - Leon Uris, author
• June 25 - Lester Maddox, segregationist governor of the state of Georgia
• June 26 - Sir Denis Thatcher, husband of Margaret Thatcher
• June 26 - Strom Thurmond, United States Senator
• June 29 - Katharine Hepburn, American actress (b. 1907)

July-September

• July 4 - Barry White, singer
• July 10 - Lord Shawcross, Britain's chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials
• July 16 - Carol Shields, Canadian author
• July 17 - Dr. David Kelly, British Ministry of Defence
• July 21 - John Davies, president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee
• July 22 - Qusay Hussein, Iraqi military leader, younger son of Saddam Hussein
• July 22 - Uday Hussein, Iraqi military leader; eldest son of Saddam Hussein
• July 27 - Vance Hartke, US Senator from Indiana
• July 27 - Bob Hope, Anglo-American comedian, actor
• July 28 - Lady Valerie Goulding, Irish Senator and campaigner for the disabled
• July 29 - Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean rebel leader
• July 30 - Sam Phillips, record producer
• August 15 - Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator
• August 19 - Carlos Roberto Reina, former president of Honduras
• August 19 - Sérgio Vieira de Mello, United Nations Special Representative to Iraq
• August 30 - Charles Bronson, actor
• September 1 - Sir Terry Frost, British artist
• September 3 - Paul Hill, executed for two anti-abortion murders
• September 11 - Anna Lindh, Swedish foreign minister (assassinated)
• September 12 - Johnny Cash, American musician
• September 12 - John Ritter, American actor
• September 13 - Frank O'Bannon, Governor of Indiana
• September 15 - Yetunde Price, sister of American tennis-players Venus and Serena Williams
• September 16 - Erich Hallhuber, Bavarian actor
• September 16 - Sheb Wooley, actor, singer
• September 19 - Slim Dusty, Australian country music singer
• September 20 - Lord Williams of Mostyn, British Cabinet minister, Leader of the House of Lords
• September 20 - Simon Vengai Muzenda, Zimbabwe politician, vice president of the Republic since 1987
• September 22 - Gordon Jump, American actor
• September 25 - Franco Modigliani, Nobel Prize-winning economist
• September 25 - Aquila al-Hashimi, Iraqi politician, member of the Governing Council
• September 25 - George Plimpton, American Renaissance man
• September 25 - Edward Said, professor at Columbia University, proponent of Palestinian rights
• September 28 - Elia Kazan, American movie director

October-December

• October 2 - John T. Dunlop, Secretary of Labor under Gerald Ford
• October 3 - William Steig, American cartoonist and children's author; creator of Shrek
• October 4 - Sid McMath, former governor of Arkansas
• October 10 - Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b. 1925)
• October 18 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (b. 1912)
• October 19 - Margaret Murie, "Mother of the modern conservationist movement"
• October 19 - Faith Fancher, television journalist and breast cancer awareness activist
• October 23 - Soong May-ling, widow of Chiang Kai-shek
• October 27 - Rod Roddy, game show announcer (The Price is Right)
• October 30 - Franco Corelli, Italian tenor
• October 31 - Richard Neustadt, political historian
• December 7 - Carl F. H. Henry, American evangelical theologian, founder of Christianity Today magazine
• December 7 - Azie Taylor Morton, former Treasurer of the United States
• December 8 - Rubén González, Cuban pianist, member of the Buena Vista Social Club
• December 8 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (b. 1909)
• December 9 - Paul Simon, US Senator from Illinois
• December 12 - Heydar Aliyev, former President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)
• December 12 - Keiko, the orca in the Free Willy movies
• December 29 - Earl Hindman, actor, played Wilson on Home Improvement * December 30 - Anita Mui, Hong Kong actress (b. 1963)

Nobel prizes

• Physics:
  • Alexei Alexeevich Abrikosov, Russia and United States
  • Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, Russia
  • Anthony James Leggett, United Kingdom and United States, "for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids"
• Chemistry:
  • Peter Agre, United States "for discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes", "for the discovery of water channels"
  • Roderick MacKinnon, United States "for structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels"
• Physiology or Medicine:
  • Paul Lauterbur, United States
  • Sir Peter Mansfield, United Kingdom "for their discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging"
• Literature:
  • John Maxwell Coetzee, South Africa, "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider"
• Peace:
  • Shirin Ebadi, Iran "for her efforts for democracy and human rights"
• Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
• Robert F. Engle, United States "for methods of analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility"
• Clive W. J. Granger, United Kingdom "for methods of analyzing economic time series with common trends"

Government, religious, and international organisations leaders

• List of state leaders in 2003
• List of religious leaders in 2003
• List of international organization leaders in 2003

External links

• 2003 Year in Review - comprehensive listing of 2003 reviews and lists
• 2003 Year-End Google Zeitgeist - Google's Yearly List of Major Events and Top Searches for 2003