|
2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
Events
- January 1 -
- 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 24 - The new United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
- January 25 -
- 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.
- 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 in the killings of Catholics in Northern Ireland
- April 21 - Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.
- 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 3- historic New Hampshire landmark, Old Man in the Mountain falls overnight.
- 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 19 - Pen Hadow becomes the first man to walk alone, without any outside help, from Canada to the North Pole
- 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 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is declared the Host City for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010.
- July 5
- 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's main street.
- July 18 Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and proposes the first European constitution
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
Births
Deaths
For more deaths, see: Deaths in 2003
January
- January 3 - Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
- January 4 - Conrad Hall, Tahitian-born cinematographer (b. 1926)
- January 4 - Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)
- January 8 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (b. 1925)
- January 11 - Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (b. 1925)
- January 11 - Richard Simmons, American actor (b. 1913)
- January 12 - Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator (b. 1926)
- January 12 - Maurice Gibb, Australian musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)
- January 15 - Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- January 17 - Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926)
- January 20 - Al Hirschfeld, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
- January 23 - Nell Carter, American singer and actress (b. 1948)
- January 24 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)
- January 26 - Valeriy Brumel, Russian athlete (b. 1942)
- January 26 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (b. 1917)
- January 29 - Frank Moss, U.S. Senator from Utah (b. 1911)
February
March
April
- April 1 - Leslie Cheung, Hongkong singer and actor (b.1961)
- April 7 - Cecile de Brunhoff, French storyteller (b. 1903)
- April 11 - Cecil Howard Green, British-born geophysicist and businessman (b. 1900)
- April 17 - Robert Atkins, American nutritionist (b. 1930)
- April 17 - Paul Getty, American-born philanthropist (b. 1932)
- April 17 - Earl King, American musician (b. 1934)
- April 20 - Bernard Katz, German-born biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- April 21 - Nina Simone, American singer (b. 1933)
- April 26 - Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)
- April 30 - Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
May
- May 3 - Suzy Parker, American actress (b. 1932)
- May 9 - Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana (b. 1933)
- May 12 - Sadruddhin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1933)
- May 14 - Wendy Hiller, English actress (b. 1912)
- May 14 - Robert Stack, American actor (b. 1919)
- May 15 - June Carter Cash, American singer (b. 1929)
- May 15 - Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist (b. 1924)
- May 26 - Kathleen Winsor, American writer (b. 1919)
- May 27 - Luciano Berio, Italian composer (b. 1925)
- May 28 - Ilya Prigogine, Russian-born physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917)
- May 28 - Martha Scott, American actress (b. 1912)
June
- June 10 - Donald Regan, U.S. Treasury Secretary (b. 1918)
- June 10 - Bernard Williams, English philosopher (b. 1929)
- June 11 - David Brinkley, American television reporter (b. 1920)
- June 12 - Gregory Peck, American actor (b. 1916)
- June 15 - Hume Cronyn, Canadian actor (b. 1911)
- June 18 - Larry Doby, baseball player (b. 1923)
- June 21 - Leon Uris, American writer (b. 1924)
- June 23 - Maynard Jackson, Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia (b. 1938)
- June 25 - Lester Maddox, Governor of Georgia (b. 1915)
- June 26 - Denis Thatcher, husband of Margaret Thatcher (b. 1915)
- June 26 - Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator (b. 1902)
- June 29 - Katharine Hepburn, American actress (b. 1907)
- June 30 - Buddy Hackett, American comedian and actor (b. 1924)
July
- July 1 - Herbie Mann, Americn jazz flutist (b. 1930)
- July 4 - Barry White, American singer (b. 1944)
- July 5 - Roman Lyashenko, Russian hockey player (b. 1979)
- July 7 - Buddy Ebsen, American actor (b. 1908)
- July 10 - Winston Graham, English writer (b. 1908)
- July 10 - Hartley William Shawcross, British chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials (b. 1902)
- July 12 - Benny Carter, American musician (b. 1907)
- July 13 - Compay Segundo, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (b. 1907)
- July 15 - Roberto Bolaño, Chilean writer (b. 1953)
- July 15 - Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (b. 1920)
- July 16 - Celia Cruz, Cuban singer (b. 1924)
- July 16 - Carol Shields, American-born writer (b. 1935)
- July 17 - Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (b. 1914)
- July 25 - Ludwig Bölkow, German aeronautical engineer (b. 1912)
- July 25 - John Schlesinger, English film director (b. 1926)
- July 27 - Bob Hope, English-born comedian (b. 1902)
- July 30 - Sam Phillips, American record producer (b. 1923)
August
September
- September 1 - Terry Frost, English artist (b. 1915)
- September 6 - Harry Goz, American actor (b. 1932)
- September 8 - Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (b. 1986)
- September 8 - Leni Riefenstahl, German film director (b. 1902)
- September 9 - Larry Hovis, American actor (b. 1936)
- September 9 - Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (b. 1908)
- September 11 - Anna Lindh, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs (assassinated) (b. 1957)
- September 11 - John Ritter, American actor (b. 1948)
- September 12 - Johnny Cash, American singer and guitarist (b. 1932)
- September 14 - Yetunde Price, American sister of Venus and Serena Williams (murdered)
- September 17 - Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)
- September 17 - Sheb Wooley, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
- September 22 - Gordon Jump, American actor (b. 1932)
- September 24 - Edward Said, Palestinian-born literary critic (b. 1935)
- September 25 - Franco Modigliani, Italian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- September 25 - George Plimpton, American writer and actor (b. 1927)
- September 26 - Robert Palmer, English singer (b. 1949)
- September 27 - Donald O'Connor, actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1925)
- September 28 - Althea Gibson, American tennis player (b. 1927)
- September 28 - Elia Kazan, Hungarian-born director (b. 1909)
October
- October 3 - William Steig, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
- October 5 - Denis Quilley, British actor (b. 1927)
- October 5 - Dan Snyder, Canadian hockey player (b. 1978)
- October 10 - Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b. 1925)
- October 12 - Jim Cairns, Australian politician (b. 1914)
- October 12 - Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (b. 1931)
- October 13 - Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- October 19 - Alija Izetbegović, President of Bosnia-Herzegovina (b. 1925)
- October 20 - Jack Elam, American actor (b. 1918)
- October 21 - Fred Berry, American actor (b. 1951)
- October 21 - Elliott Smith, American musician (b. 1969)
- October 23 - Tony Capstick, English comedian, actor, and musician (b. 1944)
- October 23 - Soong May-ling, Chinese wife of Chiang Kai-shek (b. 1898)
- October 29 - Hal Clement, American writer (b. 1922)
- October 29 - Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (b. 1921)
- October 31 - Richard Neustadt, American political historian (b. 1919)
November
- November 4 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (b. 1923)
- November 5 - Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (b. 1940)
- November 6 - Eduardo Palomo, Mexican actor (b. 1962)
- November 6 - Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (b. 1919)
- November 9 - Art Carney, American actor (b. 1918)
- November 10 - Canaan Banana, first President of Zimbabwe (b. 1936)
- November 10 - Irv Kupcinet, American columnist and television personality (murdered) (b. 1912)
- November 12 - Jonathan Brandis, American actor (suicide) (b. 1976)
- November 12 - Penny Singleton, American actress (b. 1908)
- November 13 - Kellie Waymire, American actress (b. 1967)
- November 14 - Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (b. 1962)
- November 15 - Ray Lewis, Canadian runner (b. 1910)
- November 15 - Dorothy Loudon, American actress (b. 1933)
- November 18 - Michael Kamen, American composer (b. 1948)
- November 20 - Robert Addie, British actor (cancer) (b. 1960)
- November 20 - David Dacko, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1930)
- November 20 - Jim Siedow, American actor (b. 1920)
- November 24 - Hugh Kenner, Canadian literary critic (b. 1922)
- November 24 - Warren Spahn, baseball player (b. 1921)
- November 26 - Stefan Wul, French writer (b. 1922)
- November 30 - Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (b. 1906)
December
|