Title: 2003 Content: 2003 (MMIII) was . == Events == * January 1 – Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland. * February 1 – Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed during re-entry. All seven astronauts on board died. * February 4 the Hindu minority of Bnagladesh declare the sovereign state of Bangabhumi, recognised by UNPO. * March 20 – The US-led invasion of Iraq begins. * May 1 – US President George W. Bush announced the end of the invasion of Iraq. * July 10 – Wikibooks, a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, was created. * October 30 – Wicked has its first show at the Gershwin Theatre in Broadway. == Nobel prize winners == * Chemistry – Peter Agre * Chemistry – Roderick MacKinnon * Economics – Robert F. Engle III * Economics – Clive W.J. Granger * Literature – J. M. Coetzee * Medicine – Paul C. Lauterbur * Medicine – Sir Peter Mansfield * Peace – Shirin Ebadi * Physics – Alexei A. Abrikosov * Physics – Vitaly L. Ginzburg * Physics – Anthony J. Leggett == Deaths == === January === * January 12 – Maurice Gibb, British musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949) * January 12 – Leopoldo Galtieri, 44th President of Argentina (b. 1926) * January 17 – Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926) * January 20 – Al Hirschfeld, American cartoonist (b. 1903) === February === * February 1 – Crew of Space Shuttle Columbia: Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark * February 14 – Dolly the Sheep, cloned mammal (b. 1996) * February 27 – Fred Rogers, American children's television host (b. 1928) === March === * March 2 – Hank Ballard, American R&B; recording artist; singer and songwriter (b. 1927) * March 8 – Adam Faith, English singer, actor and financial journalist (b. 1940) * March 12 – Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952) === April === * April 21 – Nina Simone, American singer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1933) === May === * May 14 – Wendy Hiller, British actress (b. 1912) * May 14 – Robert Stack, American actor (b. 1919) * May 15 – June Carter Cash, American singer, songwriter and actress (b. 1929) * January 28 – Ilya Prigogine, Belgian chemist (b. 1917) === June === * June 12 – Gregory Peck, American actor (b. 1916) * June 21 – Piet Dankert, 13th President of the European Parliament (b. 1934) * June 26 – Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator (b. 1902) * June 29 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (b. 1907) === July === * July 4 – Barry White, American singer (b. 1944) * July 16 – Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer (b. 1925) * July 25 – John Schlesinger, English movie director (b. 1926) * July 27 – Bob Hope, American comedian, actor, singer and dancer (b. 1903) === August === * August 16 – Idi Amin, 3rd President of Uganda (b. 1928) * August 19 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, East Timor United Nations diplomat (b. 1948) * August 30 – Charles Bronson, American actor (b. 1921) === September === * September 11 – John Ritter, American actor (b. 1948) * September 12 – Johnny Cash, American singer and guitarist (b. 1932) * September 26 – Shawn Lane, American musician (b. 1963) * September 28 – Elia Kazan, American film and theatre director (b. 1909) === October === * October 13 – Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist (b. 1918) * October 14 – Moktar Ould Daddah, 1st President of Mauritania (b. 1924) * October 19 – Alija Izetbegović, 1st and 4th Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (b. 1925) === November === * November 10 – Canaan Banana, 1st President of Zimbabwe (b. 1936) * November 12 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (b. 1976) * November 12 – Penny Singleton, American actress (b. 1908) * November 22 – Mario Beccaria, Italian politician (b. 1920) * November 24 – Snowflake the Gorilla, Western lowland gorilla (b. 1964) === December === * December 12 – Heydar Aliyev, 3rd President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923) * December 12 – Keiko the Killer Whale, male orca (killer whale) (b. 1976) * December 23 – Kriangsak Chomanan, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1917)