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 the "State Union of Serbia and Montenegro" (or "Serbia and Montenegro" for short) 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 Plavšic 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 Ðindic 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 5 August 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 8 September.
* 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.

### October

* 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 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.