The year 2003 tied with2002 as the second-hottest year on record.SARS becamean epidemic for several months in 2003, centered inGuangdong andHong Kong, while concerns aboutpolio andmeasles outbreaks in West Africa and Uganda, respectively, led to massive child vaccination drives that saw entire populations inoculated. The city ofBam, Iran, was almost entirely destroyed in 2003 followinga magnitude 6.6 earthquake.
Theworld population on January 1, 2003, was estimated to be 6.272 billion people and increased to 6.353 billion people by January 1, 2004.[1] An estimated 134.0 million births and 52.5 million deaths took place in 2003.[1] The average globallife expectancy was 67.1 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2002.[1] There were approximately 10.6 million global refugees at the beginning of 2003, and the number was reduced to 9.7 million refugees by the end of the year.[2] Afghanistan was the largest source of refugees, with a total of 2.1 million at the end of the year.[2]
The Indonesianinsurgency in Aceh escalated when a demilitarization agreement failed and the government renewed its offensive in May.[5]: 126 Indonesia declaredmartial law and launched an attack against theFree Aceh Movement, killing at least 1,100 and capturing another 2,000 out of the movement's total 5,000 members.[4]: 250 TheMoro conflict in the Philippines deescalated when the Philippine government agreed to peace talks with theMoro Islamic Liberation Front in July, though conflicts with other groups continued.[5]: 129 A truce between Nepal and Maoist rebels held until conflict resumed in August. Australia deployed 2,000 soldiers to theSolomon Islands in July as a response to internal unrest.[4]: 250 TheSri Lankan civil war continued in 2003 as peace talks failed, and long-running civil warsin Burundi andin Uganda both escalated.[5]: 107–112 Agreements was reached in the secondSecond Congo War for rebels and foreign soldiers to end hostilities.[5]: 101 [3]: 629
A coalition of countries led by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia led an invasion of Iraq beginning on March 20, warning that Iraq had beenoperating a program to developweapons of mass destruction. The subsequentIraq War became the most publicized conflict in 2003.[3]: 627–628 The coalition quickly defeated theIraqi Armed Forces, and American presidentGeorge W. Bush gavea speech on May 1 declaring victory in the war.[6]: 2 The subsequentIraqi insurgency proved more deadly than the invasion by the end of the year.[6]: 3 The most significant insurgency action wasa bombing on August 19 that targeted United Nations personnel in Baghdad, killing UN Special RepresentativeSérgio Vieira de Mello among many others.[4]: 209 Doubts were raised throughout the year whether Iraq had been developing the weapons of which it was accused.[6]: 3 TheKashmir conflict between India and Pakistan slowed untila bombing in Mumbai killed 52 people.[4]: 250 A ceasefire took effect on November 23.[5]: 95
TheSecond Intifada continued into 2003 as conflict between Israel and Palestine killed 400 people in suicide bombings by Palestinians and military strikes by theIsrael Defense Forces.[5]: 104 Israel constructed theWest Bank barrier, which it described as a measure to prevent suicide bombings and Palestine described as a measure to impose segregation.[7]: 76 Israel also launched bombings against Lebanon and Syria following attacks in Israel.[4]: 250 Al-Qaeda remained active in the Middle East, launching suicide bombings in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as Morocco in North Africa. On September 10, its leadersOsama bin Laden andAyman al-Zawahiri released their first video statement since 2001, celebrating theSeptember 11 attacks. Al-Qaeda figuresKhalid Sheikh Mohammed andRiduan Isamuddin were captured in March and August, respectively.[7]: 74
Museums and libraries were looted and burned during riots inBaghdad following the invasion of Iraq.[6]: 2 [4]: 212 About 10,000 items were taken from theIraq Museum, though many were returned by the end of the year, and several items were taken from theMosul Museum. TheIraq National Library and Archive was burned down, destroying 500,000 books and 12 million Ottoman documents. The lost treasure ofTillya Tepe was found to be in Saddam Hussein's possession.[6]: 524
Music sales in 2003 amounted to about 2.7 billion units, a decline of 6.5% from 2002.DVD music video thrived in 2003 at the expense of singles andcassettes.[14] CD sales overall saw a large decline in favor of internet downloads.[4]: 162 Globally, the best-selling albums of the year wereCome Away with Me byNorah Jones,Get Rich or Die Tryin' by50 Cent, andMeteora byLinkin Park. No non-English albums were among the global top fifty albums sold in 2003.[15] The opera industry was negatively affected by a decline in tourism and other economic factors in Europe and North America, and many productions were canceled.[6]: 505
The popularity of theHarry Potter franchise meant that the publication ofHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the largest literary event in 2003, bringing significant growth to the publishing and bookseller industries.[6]: 529 [4]: 244–245 TheDaily Sun launched and became an immediate success in South Africa as a newspaper targeted toward black audiences as recovery fromApartheid continued.[4]: 243 Former Peruvian presidentAlberto Fujimori began a radio show,The Chino's Hour, from exile in Japan.[4]: 242 The television programsQueer Eye andSaudi Women Speak Out provided unprecedented media outlets for American gay men and Saudi women, respectively. Also successful in 2003 was the Taiwanese soap operaLiow sing hua yen.[4]: 240–241 TheGameCube,PlayStation 2, andXbox remained the most popular video game consoles, although the GameCube faced poor sales.Nokia introduced theN-Gage, which functioned as both a phone and ahandheld game console.[4]: 168 Through the internet,flash mobs developed as a social trend in 2003.[4]: 168
When decentralizedpeer-to-peer file sharing replaced the centralized platformNapster as a means topirate music, theRecording Industry Association of America began directing legal action against individual users who uploaded pirated songs rather than the platforms themselves, filing a total of 382 lawsuits.[6]: 483 TheiTunes Store launched on April 28 and was immediately successful, selling over 10 million songs over the next four months.[7]: 87 This was touted as a possible solution to music piracy.[6]: 483
The global economy was weak in the first half of 2003 as uncertainty arose from Middle Eastern conflict, the spread ofSARS, and major corporate scandals of the previous year.[6]: 9 It improved in the second half of 2003 with recovery from theearly 2000s recession, remedied by lowinterest rates andexpansionary fiscal policy. Thegross world product increased in total by 2.5% in 2003, andinternational trade increased by 4.75%. The United States led the recovery, while China and Japan also made significant contributions. The economic situation improved in Latin America and Africa, while Western Europe saw slower recovery.[17] TheEurozone had a low GDP growth of 0.5%.[6]: 12 Questions arose around the Eurozone as the British economy fared better than those which had adopted the euro, and a referendum in Sweden showed strong opposition to the euro's adoption.[4]: 351 Developing countries did especially well with a growth rate of 5%, compared to the 1.8% growth in developed countries.[4]: 173 Argentina emerged fromits economic crisis after four years, reaching the year's highest GDP in the Western Hemisphere with 7% growth.[6]: 11
The invasion of Iraq caused markets to fluctuate, first through a significant increase and then a decline as the war's financial cost became apparent and the2003 Istanbul bombings shocked the economy.[4]: 177 Petroleum prices fell after the invasion of Iraq concluded and rose again following an announcement thatOPEC would reduce its output.[4]: 182 The prices of non-fuel commodities, such as metal, minerals, and agricultural materials, increased during the year.[17] Gold, copper, nickel, and aluminum all saw increases in value.[4]: 182 The airline industry began a slow recovery from the serious decline it faced after the September 11 attacks.[4]: 182 Foreign direct investment became a global economic priority when it began to falter, with 70 countries implementing at least one new law in attempts to improve the situation.[4]: 173 In the corporate world, the Italian food companyParmalat and the Dutch supermarket companyAhold were the subjects of major corporate scandals.[6]: 12 These were the latest among a series of corporate corruption scandals over the previous years that led the United States and a coalition of European countries to reform their policies on the matter.[6]: 15
Potential mergers and acquisitions in the media industry were a topic of discussion in 2003. Protestors in the United States objected to loosening ofFederal Communications Commission regulations around television station ownership, causing the US Congress and the courts to overrule the changes. American companyLiberty Media acquired UnitedGlobalCom and purchased shares inQVC to reach 98% ownership.[4]: 239 HKATV CEOChan Wing-kee purchased shares in HKATV in Hong Kong so that he had half ownership, while Hong Kong businessmanLi Ka-shing purchased 64% ofChina Entertainment Television.[4]: 240 A merger betweenTCL Electronics andThomson created the world's largest television set manufacturer.[4]: 241 The largest purchase of the newspaper industry in 2003 occurred whenJohn Fairfax Holdings of Australia acquiredIndependent Newspapers of New Zealand, while a merger also took place between Denmark's two largest newspapers,Jyllands-Posten andPolitiken.[4]: 243
The year 2003 tied with2002 as the second hottest year on record, behind only1998. The year began during anEl Niño period that continued until April.A major heatwave occurred in Europe during the summer, causing approximately 70,000 deaths, 14,000 of which were in France. Severe cold weather affected Asia, North America, and Peru. Low precipitation caused droughts in Australia, the United States, and Zimbabwe, but the previous year's droughts in Asia were alleviated by heavy precipitation in the region.[18] Several reports were published in 2003 forecasting severe negative effects ofglobal warming. TheIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change determined that approximately one million species risked extinction if no preventative measures were implemented, and theWorld Wide Fund for Nature determined that the fresh water access of 7 billion people would be at risk by 2050 because of global warming and other causes.[6]: 485 Reports also warned about the potential destruction of theAmazon rainforest and provided evidence that widespread destruction of coral was taking place.[6]: 487 Several studies in 2003 indicated that climate change was causing a global increase in droughts as well as changes to the ranges and life cycles of flora and fauna.[4]: 172
The2003 Atlantic hurricane season was above average in activity, including sixteennamed storms of which seven were hurricanes. The most severe hurricanes wereHurricane Fabian,Hurricane Isabel, andHurricane Kate.Tropical Storm Ana was the first recorded North Atlantic tropical storm to occur in April, and 2003 was the first year since 1887 to have two tropical storms occur in December.[20] The2003 Pacific typhoon season was slightly more intense than average, though the overall number of tropical storms was below average with 23 total storms. The most destructive typhoons wereTyphoon Dujuan, which made landfall inGuangdong, China, on September 2, andTyphoon Maemi, which made landfall in South Korea on September 12.[21]
TheTasman Spirit oil spill occurred in Pakistan on July 28, and cleanup of the previous year'sPrestige oil spill continued throughout 2003.[4]: 195 Other environmental disasters included the bursting of a pulp factory'scaustic soda reservoir on March 29 inCataguases, Brazil[4]: 196 and the explosion of awellhead in Alaska.[6]: 487 The sinking ofSoviet submarine K-159 caused worries about leakage of its spent nuclear fuel, but none was found.[7]: 83 A study in August caused alarm when it was determined that people across 17 countries were at risk ofarsenic poisoning from groundwater.[4]: 196
TheWorld Health Organization adopted its first international agreement in 2003, theWHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.[6]: 493 Member states also granted the WHO increased authority to take action in states without their approval to combat global health crises.[4]: 347 Global food production increased from 2002 but fell short of the amount produced in 2001, and much of southern Africa was dependent onfood aid early in the year following drought-related crop failures in 2002.[4]: 146
SARS, caused by theSARS-CoV-1 virus, became a major health concern in early 2003.[22] China informed the WHO in February that an unknown infectious disease was spreading in the country, and the WHO issued its first global alert the following month.[4]: 201 Fearing a pandemic, it issued a recommendation to avoid non-essential travel toGuangdong andHong Kong where the largest outbreaks occurred.[7]: 137 There were 8,098 cases, including 774 that ended in death, and the final case was diagnosed in June.[4]: 201
A large spike inpolio cases led the WHO to redirect its global polio immunization program to the thirteen most-affected countries.[4]: 201 A breakout in West Africa led to a massive vaccination drive where hundreds of thousands of participants helped vaccinate the children ofBenin,Burkina Faso,Ghana,Niger, andTogo over three days in October.[4]: 202 Following a summit on measles the same month, UNICEF and the WHO organized a measles vaccination drive inUganda that brought the nation's child measles vaccination rate to 100% in two weeks.[4]: 201 TheRTS,S malaria vaccine began trials for children inMozambique after it was shown to be safe for adults in several nations, while human trials for an Ebola vaccine began in the United States.[6]: 480
Record numbers ofHIV/AIDS cases and deaths occurred in 2003 with an estimated five million new cases and three million deaths. Although the disease grew,UNAIDS and the WHO reformed how they estimated the total cases and reduced the estimate from 42 million to 40 million.[4]: 202 TheAIDSVAX vaccine byVaxGen underwent two trials but was unsuccessful.[22][4]: 203 The firstfusion inhibitor treatment for AIDS,enfuvirtide, was approved in the United States in March. Evidence was presented at anInternational AIDS Society meeting in July that about 10% of HIV infections in Europe had acquiredresistance toantiretroviral treatments.[4]: 202 In response to concerns about the feasibility of treating HIV in Africa, several pharmaceutical companies reduced prices of antiretroviral drugs by up to 50% for countries in Africa and the Caribbean.[4]: 203
Other major disease outbreaks includean outbreak ofmpox (then known as monkeypox) in May and June in the United States—the first mpox outbreak in the Western Hemisphere—with 72 reported cases,[4]: 202 the spread ofavian influenza to poultry in Europe with one human case in Hong Kong that proved fatal, and two instances ofbovine spongiform encephalopathy in cows in Canada and the United States.[4]: 147
A conference held by theWorld Trade Organization in September resulted in a dispute between nations that cast doubts on whether the agreements of theDoha Development Round were sustainable.[6]: 14 Developing nations alleged that their input was being excluded by Western powers.[4]: 147 The use of farming subsidies, particularly by Europe, Japan, and the United States, was challenged here because of their effect on developing nations. These disputes led developing nations to form their own alliance, the G21 (later theG20 developing nations).[6]: 485 Several free trade areas were proposed or negotiated in 2003, including separate zones for theAndean Community,ASEAN, Central America, theCommonwealth of Independent States, theSouthern Cone Common Market, theSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation,[6]: 14 and the Western Hemisphere'sFree Trade Area of the Americas.[4]: 147 Some of these were conditional on political reform and democratization.[6]: 14 Cambodia and Nepal became the first developing countries to be approved for World Trade Organization membership through a working-party negotiation.[4]: 347
Renewed concern about nuclear weapons began when North Korea announced its withdrawal from theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in January,[4]: 250 and on February 6 it announced the restoration ofits nuclear weapons program. Several nations engaged in tenuous negotiations with North Korea throughout the year, but no agreements were made.[7]: 81 Iran announced its own program to produceenriched uranium in violation of its agreement with theInternational Atomic Energy Agency, disclosing this as an attempt to avoid sanctions.[7]: 83 Libya agreed to end any plans for a nuclear weapons program as scrutiny of such programs around the world increased.[6]: 6 TheStrategic Offensive Reductions Treaty between Russia and the United States came into effect in June.[4]: 248
Ten European countries signed accession agreements in April that would make them members of the European Union in May 2004.[6]: 12 This included the first eight post-Soviet states to be approved for membership.[4]: 350 TheEuropean Commission objected to some of the admissions, arguing that the countries had weak legal institutions and were plagued with corruption.[4]: 352 The first draft of a potentialConstitution of the European Union was written by former French presidentValéry Giscard d'Estaing and presented to the EU in June.[4]: 351
Political discourse around migration expanded in 2003 from a focus onirregular migration andright of asylum to a more general focus on how inflows of migrants affected trade and the workforce. Many countries expressed interest in regional agreements to manage migration and several summits were held in different parts of the world.[4]: 288–289 Other developments in international politics included the seizure of the North KoreanPong Su by Australia in April after the ship smuggled heroin into the country,[4]: 210 the construction ofa Russian military base inKant, Kyrgyzstan, as the Russian Federation's first foreign military base,[4]: 251 and Libya's acceptance of fault in the 1988 downing ofPan Am Flight 103. In the latter case, Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi offered reparations to the victims' family members, prompting the United States to petition for the removal of international sanctions against Libya[7]: 82
Liberian presidentCharles Taylor fled the country on August 1 and was replaced byGyude Bryant, a compromise between the different factions of the Liberian Civil War, on October 14.[7]: 80 Nigeria declined to extradite Taylor to Sierra Leone where he was under indictment.[4]: 208 PresidentFradique de Menezes of São Tomé and Príncipe and PresidentKumba Ialá of Guinea-Bissau were overthrown by military coupsin July andin September, respectively, but de Menezes resumed control following negotiations.[4]: 250
Political controversies in 2003 includeda series of protests inHong Kong following the implementation of laws by China that limited the rights of the Hongkongers,[7]: 82 the arrest of Russian businessmanMikhail Khodorkovsky on October 27 in what was seen internationally as political persecution by the government to exercise control overRussian oligarchs,[7]: 82 and the arrest of opposition leaderAung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy activists in Myanmar on May 30.[4]: 288 Serbian prime ministerZoran Đinđić was assassinated on March 12, prompting a crackdown on a criminal organization that supported former dictatorSlobodan Milošević, whom Đinđić had ousted.[7]: 82 Swedish foreign ministerAnna Lindh was murdered on September 10.[4]: 210
Argentina revoked amnesty for those who had people killed during theDirty War, and a trial began for GeneralAntonio Domingo Bussi.[4]: 287 The country also attempted to extradite 40 people accused of crimes against Spanish nationals during the war, but Spain did not accept them.[4]: 208 The secularShinui party gained influence in Israel following a public debate on the role of Judaism in Israeli politics.[6]: 473 Armenia abolished its death penalty so it would be in compliance withCouncil of Europe obligations.[4]: 211
The American-led invasion of Iraq dominated discourse around international law and sparked debate about when such actions are justified. Military intervention was supported by countries such as Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and much of Eastern Europe, while its strongest opponents included China, France, Germany, and Russia.[6]: 491 Proponents justified the actions by invoking a right to self defense throughpreemptive war, the allowance of use of force inChapter VII of the United Nations Charter,[4]: 207 and the pastUnited Nations Security Council Resolutions687 (1991) and1441 (2002).[6]: 491 The United Nations played a critical role in international discourse around the invasion asits relations with the United States were strained.[4]: 346 International relations were similar troubled in Europe where British support for the war brought the UK into diplomatic conflict with much of Western Europe.[4]: 351 The US was criticized for holding suspected terrorists without due process and subjecting them to torture.[4]: 287 The Iraqi presidentSaddam Hussein went into hiding as the invasion took place, but he was discovered and arrested six months later.[6]: 4 The Iraqi government was replaced by theCoalition Provisional Authority, led by the United States military.[4]: 248
TheInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) accepted two new cases in 2003:a border dispute case between Malaysia and Singapore anda dispute over the United States' application of the death penalty against Mexican nationals. TheUnited Nations General Assembly requested anadvisory opinion from the ICJ regarding the construction of theWest Bank barrier by Israel. A case filed by Libya against the United Kingdom and the United States regarding the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 was settled outside of court.[6]: 491 The ICJ ruled in theOil Platforms case that American force was not justified inthe 1987 attacks on Iranian oil platforms but that it had not broken the1955 treaty as Iran alleged. It rejected appeals of a 1992 border dispute between El Salvador and Honduras and a 1996 decision that the ICJ had jurisdiction in Yugoslavia at the time.[6]: 492
Opponents of the American-led invasion of Iraq saw it as an attack on Islam.[6]: 471 Organized efforts were made by political and religious leaders in the Muslim world to differentiate typical Islam from extremism. Religious strife occurred in Saudi Arabia whereWahhabi Muslims supported stricter application of Islamic law—some engaging in civil unrest and suicide bombings—while other denominations spoke in favor of tolerance for minority religions and women.[6]: 472 Terrorist attacks took place throughout the Middle East, includinga car bombing at theImam Ali Shrine that killedMohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the most prominent pro-US cleric in Iraq, and at least 80 other people.[4]: 278 French society and the French government, especially within theNational Front, took a hostile approach toward Muslims in 2003.A proposal was made to ban religious attire in schools, while at the same time the country's first Muslim-run school was opened inLille.[6]: 473
Judaism was marked with disputes between different sects, both in Israel and the United Kingdom. Israel debated whetherHaredi Jews should be allowed to retain exemptions to certain laws.[6]: 473 The BritishMasorti RabbiLouis Jacobs was not permitted in anOrthodox ceremony for his granddaughter's marriage on the orders of thebeth din in London, reigniting the Jacobs Affair of the 1960s.[6]: 474
Hindus were allowed to enter an 11th-century memorial inBhojshala, Madhya Pradesh, after a five-year ban against Hindus culminated in violence.[4]: 279 Controversy erupted in the Hindu world after the reprint ofGanesa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings by Paul Courtright and the publication ofShivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India byJames Laine. Both of these books were seen as offensive by some Hindu groups, causing the writers and publishers to receive threats and harassment.[6]: 474 TheGurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall opened in London as the largest Sikh temple outside of India.[4]: 279–280 In Haiti, practitioners of voodoo were given the right to register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Religion.[4]: 279
TheHerto Man was dated to approximately 160,000 years ago and proposed as a human subspeciesHomo sapiens idaltu. The findings provided additional evidence for the theory that humansoriginated in Africa.[4]: 149 Another set of human fossils, a set of skulls first discovered in Mexico in 1959, were dated to approximately 13,000 years ago.[4]: 151 Among nonhuman fossils, the dinosaurRajasaurus narmadensis was described, study ofMicroraptor gui fossils determined that it had asymmetrical feathers on its limbs that supported a theory of arboreal evolution for dinosaurs,[4]: 219 Ginkgo biloba fossils from 121 million years ago closed a gap in the species' fossil record,Tetrapod fossils from theLate Devonian were discovered in China that indicated fast globalization of the clade, and fossilizedspider silk was dated to at least 130 million years.[4]: 220
The 110th element of theperiodic table was officially nameddarmstadtium (Ds), replacing the provisional name ununnilium.[4]: 270 TheHuman Genome Project announced in April that it had finished mapping thehuman genome.[4]: 218 Studies in genetics produced artificial mouse eggs fromstem cells, found that chimpanzees share 99.4 percent of their DNA with humans instead of the previous estimate of 95 percent,[6]: 479 and determined thatmicroRNAs are responsible for controlling shape-regulating genes in plants.[4]: 217 Human cloning was a subject of international scrutiny in 2003, triggered in part by the disputed claims of theRaëlist companyClonaid that they had produced human clones. Several countries supported international bans on human cloning.[6]: 478 The cloned horsePrometea was the first mammal in which its mother was also its genetic donor, while the cloned sheepDolly died on February 21 after living for only six years, raising doubts about the viability of cloning.[6]: 479 The use ofgenetically modified crops was also a controversial issue, particularly in the European Union where a moratorium ongenetically modified food remained in effect. Many other countries expanded their production of genetically modified crops.[4]: 147
The AmericanSpace ShuttleColumbia wasdestroyed in the atmosphere as it returned to Earth on February 1, killing all seven on board.[7]: 130 The BrazilianVLS-1 launcher exploded on the launchpad on August 22, killing 21 people.[4]: 276 NASA lost contact with thePioneer 10 probe (launched in 1972) and ended the mission of theGalileo probe (launched in 1989) by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere. TheVoyager 1 probe became the first man-made object to reach thetermination shock zone at the edge of the Solar System.[6]: 477 China became the third country to launch a human into space with theShenzhou 5 mission on October 15, in which taikonautYang Liwei was in space for 21 hours.[6]: 476
NASA and theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) scheduled several launches toward Mars for 2003 as the planet's orbit brought it its closest to Earth in approximately 60,000 years. NASA launched two Mars rovers, theSpirit on June 10 and theOpportunity on July 7.[6]: 477 The ESA launched theMars Express orbiter with theBeagle 2 lander on June 2, but contact was lost with theBeagle 2 when it was scheduled to land on December 25.[6]: 476 TheMars Global Surveyor found over 500 new geographical features on Mars, including ones that provided evidence for landslides around former volcanoes, erosion that may have been caused by flowing water, and liquid iron in the planet's core.[4]: 273
The ESA'sRosetta mission to the comet46P/Wirtanen was scheduled for January 12 but set back a year for a safety evaluation of theAriane 5 rocket following an incident the previous month.[6]: 476 NASA launched theSpace Infrared Telescope Facility (later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope) on August 2, and the ESA launched theSMART-1 satellite on September 27 to study the Moon.[6]: 477 The first results from theWilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe were published in 2003. Its measurements ofcosmic background radiation indicated that the universe is 13.7 billion years old and the first stars formed 200 million years after the Big Bang.[7]: 142 This provided evidence of the existence ofdark matter anddark energy.[6]: 477
The number of known moons in the solar system increased from 40 to 61 for Jupiter, from 30 to 31 for Saturn, and from 8 to 11 for Neptune. Other astronomical developments occurred whenOGLE-TR-56b became the first exoplanet to be discovered throughtransit photometry, the exoplanetPSR B1620−26 b was estimated to be over 12.5 billion years old,[4]: 273 and the existence of theCanis Major dwarf galaxy was proposed. The starAchernar was determined to be oblate in shape with the radius of its equator being approximately 50% larger than that of its poles.[4]: 274
Among consumer products,camera phones became widespread in 2003 as millions were sold.[7]: 88 Several companies invested inflatscreen andLCD television production in 2003.[4]: 241 The originalVolkswagen Beetle, the most widely produced car ever designed, ended production with a final run of 3,000 cars for collectors.[7]: 92 Intel andAMD released64-bit processors in 2003, popularizing what was previously a niche hardware amid the more common32-bit systems.[6]: 483 Broadband internet andcable modems gained popularity at the expense ofdial-up andDSL modems.Wi-Fi hotspots became more common, and they were increasingly found in businesses for customers' use.[4]: 165 Other technological milestones included the end ofConcorde supersonic airliner services on October 24 after operating for 27 years,[7]: 93 the installation of the first rotating underwater turbine in June to generate tidal power in the United Kingdom,[6]: 488 and the testing of theMassive Ordinance Air Burst bomb by theUnited States Air Force as its strongest non-nuclear munition.[4]: 251
February 4 – TheFederal Republic of Yugoslavia is renamed to "Serbia and Montenegro" (after its two constituent states) after its leaders reconstitute the country into a loose state-union betweenMontenegro andSerbia, marking an end to the 73-year-long use of the name "Yugoslavia" by a sovereign state.[30][31][32]
February 9 – The2003 Cricket World Cup begins. It is held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, and it ends on March 23 with Australia defeating India in the final.[34]
March 31 – In its first military operation, the European Union takes over peacekeeping operations in Macedonia from NATO'sOperation Allied Harmony.[4]: 251
U.S. President George W. Bush declares an end to the invasion of Iraq in theMission Accomplished speech. Hostilities would continue for several years during a period ofIraqi insurgency.[58]
May 3 – A ceasefire takes effect in the First Ivorian Civil War.[5]: 115–116
Operation Desert Scorpion: U.S. forces in Iraq facilitate searches forBa'athist forces, distribution of humanitarian aid, and engineering programs to repair damaged infrastructure.[77]
August 14 – An overloaded power grid following the failure ofFirstEnergy's alarm system in their control room causes theNortheast blackout of 2003, affecting more than 50 million people in the United States and Canada with nearly 100 related deaths.[100][101]
October 5 – Israeli warplanesstrike alleged Islamic jihad bases insideSyrian territory, the first Israeli attack on the country since the 1973Yom Kippur War.[129]
October 14 –Gyude Bryant becomes President of Liberia as a compromise choice after former President Charles Taylor fled the country during the Second Liberian Civil War.[7]: 80
27 October 2003 Baghdad bombings: A series of car bombings occur inBaghdad, Iraq, targeting multiple police stations and a Red Cross headquarters. Approximately 40 people are killed.[140]
November 15 – Suicide bombingsoccur in Istanbul. Further attacks occur five days later. They kill 63 people between them, making them the two deadliest terror attacks in Turkey, and cause uncertainty in the international economy.[143][4]: 177
^abcWorld Population Prospects 2022 (Report). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2022.Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. RetrievedOctober 6, 2023.
^Otterman, Sharon (February 2, 2005)."IRAQ: Iraq's Governing Council".Council on Foreign Relations.Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. RetrievedDecember 13, 2022.
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