Year 2003
Events
January
January 11 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences
of 167 prisoners on Illinois's death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
January 22 – The last signal from NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft is
received, some 12.2 billion kilometers (7.6 billion mi) from Earth.
January 30 – Belgium legally recognizes same-sex marriage, becoming the
second country in the world to do so.
February
February 1 – At the conclusion of the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle
Columbia disintegrates during reentry over Texas, killing all seven
astronauts on board.
February 4 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is renamed to "Serbia
and Montenegro" (after its constituent states) as its leaders
reconstitute the country into a loose state-union between Montenegro and
Serbia, marking an end to the 73-year-long use of the name "Yugoslavia"
by a sovereign state.
February 15–16 – Antwerp diamond heist: An Italian gang steals loose
diamonds, gold and jewellery valued at more than $100 million from a
Belgian vault, one of the largest robberies in history.
February 15 – Millions of people worldwide take part in massive anti-war
protests in anticipation of the United States and its allies invading
Iraq.
February 18 – An arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South
Korea, killing 192 people.
February 20 - The Station nightclub fire occurs in West Warwick, Rhode
Island, killing 100 people and injuring 230 and another 132 escape
uninjured.
February 26 – The War in Darfur begins after rebel groups rise up
against the Sudanese government.
February 27 – Former Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavšić is sentenced by
the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia to 11 years in prison for war crimes committed during the
Bosnian War.
March
March 8 – Malta approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
March 12
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic is assassinated in Belgrade by a
sniper.
The World Health Organization issues a global alert on severe acute
respiratory syndrome when it spreads to Hong Kong and Vietnam after
originating in China.
March 20 – The Iraq War begins with the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and
allied forces.
March 23 – Slovenia approves joining the European Union and NATO in a
referendum.
April
April 9 – U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the Ba'athist
regime of Saddam Hussein.
April 12 – Hungary approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
April 14 – The Human Genome Project is completed, with 99% of the human
genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.
April 29 – The United States announces the withdrawal of its troops
stationed in Saudi Arabia, and the redeployment of some at the Al Udeid
Air Base in Qatar.
May
May 11
Benvenuto Cellini's Cellini Salt Cellar table sculpture is stolen from
the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Lithuania approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
May 12 – In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over 30 people are killed in multiple
bombings at a housing compound, mostly foreign expatriates.
May 17 – Slovakia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
May 23 – Dewey, the first deer cloned by scientists at Texas A&M
University, is born.
May 26 – Rwanda adopts a new constitution, which, among other things,
changes the country's official name from "Rwandese Republic" to
"Republic of Rwanda".
May 28 – Prometea, the world's first cloned horse, is born.
June
June 8 – Poland approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
June 14 – The Czech Republic approves joining the European Union in a
referendum.
June 30 – Warring parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sign a
peace accord, bringing an end to the Second Congo War, which left
millions dead.
July
July 5 – Severe acute respiratory syndrome is declared to be contained
by the World Health Organization.
July 6 – The 70-meter Eupatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message
Cosmic Call 2 to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri, HD 10307
and 47 Ursae Majoris, that will arrive at these stars in 2036, 2040, May
2044, September 2044 and 2049 respectively.
July 18 – The Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and
proposes the first European Constitution.
July 24 – The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, led by
Australia, begins after ethnic violence engulfs the island country.
August
August 5 - The 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing occurred on August 5, 2003 in
J.W. Marriott Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia, killing twelve
people and injuring 150. The hotel was closed for five weeks and
reopened to the public on September 8.
August 11
The Second Liberian Civil War comes to an end after President Charles
Taylor resigns and flees the country.
NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan,
marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
August 14 - The Northeast blackout of 2003 cuts electricity to the
northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
August 18 – One year old Zachary Turner is murdered by his mother in
Conception Bay South, Canada. She had controversially been bailed and
granted custody of the toddler despite facing extradition and trial for
the murder of Zachary's father. The case inspired the movie Dear Zachary
and prompted a change in Canadian law.
August 25 – The unmanned Spitzer Space Telescope is launched from Cape
Canaveral, Florida.
August 27
Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in over 60,000 years.
The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United
States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution
to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
September
September 4 – Europe's busiest shopping centre, the Bull Ring in
Birmingham, is officially opened.
September 14 – Estonia approves joining the European Union in a
referendum.
September 15 – ELN rebels kidnap eight foreign tourists at Ciudad
Perdida, Colombia, being freed 100 days later following negotiations
with the Colombian government.
September 20 – Latvia approves joining the European Union in a
referendum.
September 24 – The Hubble Space Telescope starts the Hubble Ultra-Deep
Field, making 800 exposures, until January 16, 2004.
September 27 – SMART-1, an unmanned ESA spaceprobe and ESA's first
mission to the moon, is launched from Kourou, French Guiana.
September 29 – Hurricane Juan makes landfall in Halifax. Causing over
$265 million (2003 CAD)
October
October 1 - Popular English-language imageboard, 4chan, is launched.
October 5 – Israeli warplanes strike alleged Islamic jihad bases inside
Syrian territory, the first Israeli attack on the country since the 1973
Yom Kippur War.
October 15 – China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned spaceflight.
October 24 – Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era
of airliner supersonic travel to an end.
November
November 12 – A suicide bombing at an Italian military police
headquarters in Nasiriyah, Iraq, kills 17 Italian military police
officers and nine Iraqi civilians.
November 23 – Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigns after
widespread protests engulf the country following a disputed
parliamentary election.
November 26 – The supersonic passenger jet, Concorde, makes its last
ever flight from Heathrow Airport in London to Bristol Filton Airport.
December
December 13 – Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, is captured
in the small town of Ad-Dawr by the U.S. Army.
December 19 – Libya agrees to eliminate all of its materials, equipment,
and programs aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction.
December 23
The World Tourism Organization becomes a specialized agency of the
United Nations.
PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai
County, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
December 26 – The 6.6 Mw Bam earthquake shakes southeastern Iran with a
maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing an estimated 30,000
people.
December 29 – The last known speaker of the Akkala Sami language dies,
rendering it extinct.
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