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2003
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.
It has been designated the:
See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
2003 is prime. The next prime year is 2011.
Events
- January 1 - Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil.
- January 1 - Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland.
- January 3 - The Ohio State University defeats the University of Miami in double-overtime in the Fiesta Bowl, 31-24, for the national Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title. The game is considered to be among the best in recent years.
- January 7 - Oolong (rabbit), famous for balancing various objects on his head, dies.
- January 8 - US Airways flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina killing all 21 people aboard.
- 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 16 - Gekkai Merry Go Round/ Shunkashuutou by Psycho le cemu
- 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 26 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders, 48-21, in Super Bowl XXVII.
- January 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Romania, 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.
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- 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
- March 1 - The Turkish parliament vetos the access of the U.S troops to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on the B Plan, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf.
- March 1 - The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security
- March 1 - 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.
- March 1 - Ohio celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- March 1 - The 25th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held in Australia.
- March 4 - Evanescence's debut album Fallen is released
- 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 - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić is assassinated in Belgrade.
- March 12 - WHO issues a global alert on SARS.
- March 12 - Elizabeth Smart was rescued in Sandy, Utah 9 months after she was abducted from her bedroom by knifepoint.
- March 12 - 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 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 18 - The United Kingdom Parliament votes in favour of a motion understood as giving the government final authority to join the invasion of Iraq.*
- 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.
- March 30 - Meigs Field Airport in Chicago, Illinois is demolished overnight.
- 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. During his speech, a prominent banner declared "Mission Accomplished."
- May 2 - Monkeyman superhero hoax begins in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK
- May 3 - Old Man of the Mountain, rock formation in New Hampshire, crumbles after heavy rain
- May 4-10 - A major severe weather outbreak spawned more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history. 393 tornadoes were reported in 19 states.
- May 11 - Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera is stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
- May 12 - Suicide truck-bomb attack kills at least 60 at a government compound in northern Chechnya.
- May 12 - In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 26 people are killed in the Riyadh Compound Bombings.
- 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 16 - In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- May 17 - Arsenal beat Southampton 1-0 to win th FA Cup.
- May 19 - Pen Hadow becomes the first man to walk alone, without any outside help, from Canada to the North Pole
- May 20 - Buffy The Vampire Slayer airs its final show ending a 7 year run on both The WB Network and UPN
- May 21 - Miracle high tension! by Psycho le cemu
- May 21 - Earthquake in Boumerdès region of northern Algeria - 2,200 killed
- May 22 - The Sheffield Winter Gardens was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
- May 23 - The birth of Dewey, the first cloned deer by scientists at 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 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.
- July 1 - 500,000 Hong Kong people march to protest Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, which redefined treason controversially.
- July 2 - International Olympic Committee session in Prague. Vancouver ,Canada is declared the Host City for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010.
- July 5 - SARS is declared to be contained by WHO.
- July 5 - Double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert kills the female attackers and 15 other people.
- July 6 - Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant's arrest is made public. Bryant was charged with sexual assault in Eagle County, Colorado
- 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 8 - Delta Goodrem diagnosed with Cancer.
- 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's main street.
- July 10 - Wikibooks, a free content set of textbooks, goes online.
- July 14 - U.S. columnist Robert Novak publishes the name of Valerie Plame, blowing her cover as a CIA operative. CIA leak scandal begins.
- July 18 - Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and proposes the first European constitution
- July 18 - The body of Dr. David Kelly, 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, led by Australia, begins in the Solomon Islands
- July 30 - The last old-style Volkswagen Beetle rolls off its production line in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico.
- July 31 - Avenue Q, a new musical, opens on Broadway. It would go on to win the Tony Award for Best New Musical.
- 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 10 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK - 38.5°C (101.3°F) at Brogdale near Faversham in Kent *. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
- August 11 - NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
- August 11 - Jemaah Islamiah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
- August 11 - A big heat wave in Paris has had temperatures up to 44°C (112°F), killing more than 3,000 people.
- August 14 - Widespread power outage affects northeast United States and Canada.
- August 14 - 6.4 Richter scale earthquake near the Greek Ionian island of Lefkada - 24 injured
- August 22 - 21 killed at the Brazilian rocket complex in Alcântara due to a premature ignition of a solid rocket booster.
- August 25 - 52 killed in two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.
- August 27 - Perihelic opposition of Mars, and its closest approach to Earth in over 50,000 years.
- October 7 - 2003 California recall: Voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
- October 8 A trip to Arcadia by Psycho le cemu re-released
- October 10 - Facing an investigation surrounding allegations of illegal drug use, American Right Wing radio host Rush Limbaugh publically admits that he is addicted to prescription pain killers and will seek treatment.
- October 14 - The Florida Marlins defeat the Chicago Cubs in Game 6 of Major League Baseball's National League Championship Series; the game is remembered for Cubs fan Steve Bartman interfering with a foul ball which could have helped Chicago win the game and the series. The Marlins go on to win the World Series.
- October 15 - China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned space mission; the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash kills 11 after one of its ferries slammed into a pier
- 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 - Cedar Fire begins in San Diego County burning 280,000 acres (1,100 km²), 2,232 homes and killing 14
- October 30 - Wicked, a new musical with music by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, opens on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre. The musical stars Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristen Chenoweth as Glinda.
- October 31 - Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power.
- 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 - U.S. President George W. Bush makes a state visit to London in the midst of massive protests.
- November 18 - Goodridge v. Department of Public Health rules anti-same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional in Massachusetts
- November 18 - Britney Spears breaks her own record with her 4th album "In The Zone" going to #1 on the Billboard 200, making her the only artist in music history to have her first 4 albums go to #1 on the Billboard 200.
- November 20 - Several bombs explode in Istanbul, Turkey destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC and the British consulate.