What Happened in 2003 — Events, Births & Deaths

A suicide bombing at the Tel Aviv central bus station kills 23 people and injures over 100 more.

Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.

Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.

TANS Perú Flight 222 crashes on approach to Chachapoyas Airport in Chachapoyas, Peru, killing 46 people.

North Korea withdraws from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, making it the first state to withdraw from the treaty.

Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois's death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.

208996 Achlys was discovered by Chad Trujillo and Michael E. Brown at Palomar Observatory.

The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.

A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.

A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted.

The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

Invasion of Iraq: A group of people leave London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.

The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.

The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia.

Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.

France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.

Iraq disarmament crisis: UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix reports to the United Nations Security Council that disarmament inspectors have found no weapons of mass destruction in Ba'athist Iraq.

Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between eight million and 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.[citation needed]

The last Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre, carrying Intelsat 907.

192 people die when an arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea.

An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275.

During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.

Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service moves to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.

Air Algérie Flight 6289 crashes at the Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport in Tamanrasset, Algeria, killing 102 out of the 103 people on board.

The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.

Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.

The World Health Organization officially release a global warning of outbreaks of Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints.

American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah by being run over by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer while trying to obstruct the demolition of a home.

Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

United States President George W. Bush addresses the nation, announcing the invasion of Iraq.

Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq.

Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.

In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.

Iraq War: U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime falls two days later.

Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide demands reparations of $21 billion from France for the Haitian independence debt.

Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces.

The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.

U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner MS Achille Lauro in 1985.

The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.

Anneli Jäätteenmäki takes office as the first female prime minister of Finland.

Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

The Riyadh compound bombings in Saudi Arabia, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 39 people.

In Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.

The 6.8 Mw Boumerdès earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). More than 2,200 people were killed and a moderate tsunami sank boats at the Balearic Islands.

Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines Flight 4230 crashes in the Turkish town of Maçka, killing 75.

Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.

Depayin massacre: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi flees the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards.

Air France retires its fleet of Concorde aircraft.

Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50 °C (122 °F) in the region.

The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission.

The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that sex-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

Over 500,000 people protest against efforts to pass anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization announces that the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak has been contained.

The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively.

NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover–B, was launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket.

Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashes near Port Sudan Airport during an emergency landing attempt, killing 116 of the 117 people on board.

French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.

AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day.

Iraq War: Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year-old son, and a bodyguard.

In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.

Three years after the death of the last Pyrenean ibex, Celia, a clone of her is born only to subsequently die from lung defects. Within minutes, the Pyrenean ibex becomes the first and so far only species to have ever gone de-extinct as well as go extinct twice.

A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.

The Okinawa Urban Monorail is opened in Naha, Okinawa.

NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.

Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.

A widescale power blackout affects the northeast United States and Canada.

One-year-old Zachary Turner is murdered in Newfoundland by his mother, who was awarded custody despite facing trial for the murder of Zachary's father. The case was documented in the film Dear Zachary and led to reform of Canada's bail laws.

A truck-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees.

Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, planned by Hamas, kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama Roy Moore is suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.

NASA successfully launches the Spitzer Space Telescope into space.

A Beechcraft 1900 operating as Colgan Air Flight 9446 crashes after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, killing both pilots on board.

Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.

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.

In "one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI", Brian Wells dies after becoming involved in a complex plot involving a bank robbery, a scavenger hunt, and a homemade explosive device.

Sayed Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.

Mahmoud Abbas resigns from his position of Palestinian Prime Minister.

The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Iraq War: In Fallujah, U.S. forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers.

Typhoon Maemi, the strongest recorded typhoon to strike South Korea, made landfall near Busan.

In a referendum, Estonia approves joining the European Union.

Bissau-Guinean President Kumba Ialá is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General Veríssimo Correia Seabra.

Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards.

The Galileo spacecraft is terminated by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere.

The 8.3 Mw Hokkaidō earthquake strikes just offshore Hokkaidō, Japan.

The SMART-1 satellite is launched.

The popular and controversial English-language imageboard 4chan is launched.

The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Israel kills twenty-one Israelis, both Jews and Arabs.

The Steve Bartman Incident takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

China launches Shenzhou 5, its first crewed space mission.

Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.

Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University.

Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery.

Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

The Cedar Fire, the third-largest wildfire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km2), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.

Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia and is replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, marking an end to Mahathir's 22 years in power.

Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.

Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record of 501 kilometres per hour (311 mph) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles.

Astronomers discover Sedna, a distant trans-Neptunian dwarf planet.

The first day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, explode, kill 25 people and wound 300 more.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's tenure as the governor of California begins.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180 days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples.

After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.

Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident: Shortly after takeoff, a DHL Express cargo plane is struck on the left wing by a surface-to-air missile and forced to land.

Rose Revolution: Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.

The Concorde makes its final flight, over Bristol, England.

The Conservative Party of Canada is officially registered, following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more.

Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.

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.

SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.

Sex work rights activists establish December 17 (or "D17") as International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers to memorialize victims of a serial killer who targeted prostitutes, and highlight State violence against sex workers by police and others.

An explosion at the PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field in Kai County, Chongqing, China, kills at least 234.

The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.

UTA Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 141 people.

The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.

The 6.6 Mw Bam earthquake shakes southeastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving more than 26,000 dead and 30,000 injured.

The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

Daria Trubnikova, Russian rhythmic gymnast

CJ Egan-Riley, English footballer

Elye Wahi, French footballer

Kyle Rittenhouse, American conservative personality

Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist

Alan Virginius, French footballer

Jaeden Martell, American actor

Kevin, Brazilian footballer

MattyBRaps, American rapper, singer, and YouTuber

Ryan Dunn, American basketball player

Sangiovanni, Italian singer-songwriter

Cesare Casadei, Italian footballer

Oksana Selekhmeteva, Russian tennis player

Robin Roefs, Dutch footballer

Wendy Shongwe, South African sprinter and soccer player

Felix Afena-Gyan, Ghanaian footballer

J. J. McCarthy, American football player

Antonia Ružić, Croatian tennis player

Hannibal Mejbri, Tunisian footballer

Johnny Orlando, Canadian singer and songwriter

Park Seong-hoon, South Korean footballer

Whitney Peak, Ugandan-Canadian actress

Carson Hocevar, American professional stock car racing driver

Jarell Quansah, English footballer

Amen Thompson, American basketball player

Ausar Thompson, American basketball player

Kyla Kenedy, American actress

Rasmus Højlund, Danish footballer

Alessandro Fontanarosa, Italian footballer

Cooper DeJean, American football player

Raúl Asencio, Spanish footballer

Olivia Rodrigo, American actress and singer

Honey Osrin, British swimmer

Brandin Podziemski, American basketball player

Jamal Musiala, German footballer

Millicent Simmonds, American actress

Montana Jordan, American actor

Sunisa Lee, American gymnast

Tristan Vukčević, Serbian-Swedish basketball player

Andrea Brillantes, Filipino actress and model

Malina Weissman, American actress and model

Quinn Ewers, American football player

Cooper Hoffman, American actor

Abbi Pulling, English racing driver

Bhad Bhabie, American rapper and social media personality

Harvey Elliott, English footballer

Tetairoa McMillan, American football player

Hwang Do-yun, South Korean footballer

Jackson Merrill, American baseball player

Xavi Simons, Dutch footballer

Xavier Worthy, American football player

Emily Carey, British actress

Jung Yun-seok, South Korean actor

Lizzy Greene, American actress

Florian Wirtz, German footballer

Angelica Bove, Italian singer-songwriter

Carlos Alcaraz, Spanish tennis player

Moulay Hassan, Crown Prince of Morocco

Fermín López, Spanish footballer

Jaxson Dart, American football player

Javi Guerra, Spanish footballer

Jabari Smith Jr., American basketball player

Travis Hunter, American football player

Jojo Siwa, American dancer, singer, actress, and YouTube personality

Franco Colapinto, Argentine racing driver

Anna Malygon, Ukrainian influencer and model

Pablo Barrios, Spanish footballer

Anna Cathcart, Canadian actress

Rizki Juniansyah, Indonesian weightlifter

Hans Niemann, American chess player

Marc Pubill, Spanish footballer

Jude Bellingham, English footballer

Tate McRae, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer

Storm Reid, American actress

Polina Bogusevich, Russian singer

Junior Caminero, Dominican baseball player

Conor Bradley, Northern Irish footballer

Wyatt Oleff, American actor

Mason Teague, Australian rugby league player

Haley Winn, American hockey player

Tyler Downs, American diver

Solveig Vik, Norwegian politician

Alex Consani, Model and Influencer

Elvina Kalieva, American tennis player

Malik Nabers, American football player

Johnny Brackins, American long jumper and hurdler

Jens Castrop, German-South Korean footballer

Renato Veiga, Portuguese footballer

Calvin Ramsay, Scottish footballer

Joseph Sua'ali'i, Australian-Samoan rugby league player

Toni Shaw, British Paralympic swimmer

Kazuha, Japanese singer and dancer

Juanlu Sánchez, Spanish footballer

Rayan Cherki, French footballer

Nastasja Schunk, German tennis player

The Kid Laroi, Australian rapper and songwriter

Prince Gabriel of Belgium

Cooper Connolly, Australian cricketer

Rebeka Jančová, Slovak alpine ski racer

Quvenzhané Wallis, American actress

An Yu-jin, South Korean singer and actress

Jack Dylan Grazer, American actor

Nicolas Cantu, American actor and internet personality

Luke Hughes, American ice hockey player

Ryan Couchman, Australian rugby league player

Toby Couchman, Australian rugby league player

Aidan Gallagher, American actor and musician

Thomas Matthew Crooks, American attempted assassin of Donald Trump (died 2024)

Joe Locke, Manx actor

Bella Ramsey, English actor

Jane Remover, American musician

Alberto Moleiro, Spanish footballer

Fernando Mendoza, American football player

Ángela Aguilar, Mexican-American singer

Tate Sandell, American college football player

Scott Ogden, British motorcycle racer

Carney Chukwuemeka, English footballer

Jacob Bethell, English cricketer

Ernest Nuamah, Ghanaian footballer

Lautaro Rivero, Argentine footballer

Luca Del Bel Belluz, Canadian ice hockey player

Adéla Jergová, Slovak singer-songwriter

Robert Irwin, Australian conservationist and television personality

Neil Erasmus, South African-Australian footballer

Jackson Holliday, American baseball player

Kim Do-ah, South Korean singer and actress

Olivia Onesti, French cyclist

Yuna, South Korean rapper, singer and dancer

Joe Anders, American-British actor

Nell Carter, American actress and singer (born 1948)

Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (born 1921)

Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (born 1921)

Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (born 1910)

Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (born 1928)

Adam Faith, English singer (born 1940)

Karen Morley, American actress (born 1909)

Stan Brakhage, American director and cinematographer (born 1933)

Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician, President of Nauru (born 1946)

Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (born 1952)

Howard Fast, American novelist and screenwriter (born 1914)

Jack Goldstein, Canadian-American painter (born 1945)

Jean-Luc Lagardère, French engineer and businessman (born 1928)

Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (born 1926)

Bernard Katz, German-English biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)

Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and activist (born 1933)

Felice Bryant, American songwriter (born 1925)

Nüzhet Gökdoğan, Turkish astronomer and mathematician (born 1910)

Rosemary Brown, Jamaican-Canadian academic and politician (born 1930)

Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler and manager (born 1960)

Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (born 1923)

Milan Vukcevich, Serbian-American chemist and chess player (born 1937)

Noel Redding, English bass player (born 1945)

Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor (born 1911)

Vasil Bykaŭ, Belarusian war novelist (born 1924)

Helmut Rahn, German footballer (born 1929)

Carlos Roberto Reina, Honduran lawyer and politician, President of Honduras (born 1926)

Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (born 1948)

Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and manager (born 1946)

Warren Zevon, American singer-songwriter (born 1947)

Edward Teller, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (born 1908)

Don Willesee, Australian telegraphist and politician, 29th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1916)

Ben Metcalfe, Canadian journalist and activist (born 1919)

Rasul Gamzatov, Russian poet and educator (born 1923)

David Hemmings, English actor (born 1941)

Sita Ram Goel, Indian historian, publisher and writer (born 1921)

Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, Guatemalan general and politician, President of Guatemala (born 1918)