2003 in the United States

2003 in the United States
Years:	2000 2001 2002 – 2003 – 2004 2005 2006
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Events from the year 2003 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: George W. Bush (R-Texas)
• Vice President: Dick Cheney (R-Wyoming)
• Chief Justice: William Rehnquist (Wisconsin) ^[1]
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
• Senate Majority Leader: Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) (until January 3), Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) (starting January 3)
• Congress: 107th (until January 3), 108th (starting January 3)

Events

January

• January – Sky marshals introduced on US airlines in an attempt to prevent hijackings.^[2]
• January 3
  • The 108th United States Congress is sworn in, including incoming freshmen Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Sununu (R-NH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Norm Coleman (R-MN), and Mark Pryor (D-AR).
  • The Ohio State University defeats the University of Miami in double-overtime in the Fiesta Bowl, 31–24, for the national Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title.
• January 8 – US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people aboard.
• January 15 – Eldred v. Ashcroft: The Supreme Court of the United States allows the extension of copyright terms in the U.S.
• January 16 – STS-107: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on what turns out to be its last flight.
• January 23 – The last signal is received from NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft, some 7.5 billion miles from Earth.
• January 24 – The new United States Department of Homeland Security begins operation.
• January 25 – An international group of volunteers leaves London for Baghdad to act as voluntary human shields, hoping to avert a U.S. invasion.
• January 26 – Super Bowl XXXVII: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders 48–21.
• January 30 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain release a statement (The Letter of the Eight) demonstrating support for the United States' plans to invade Iraq.

February

February 1: Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed on re-entry

• February 1 – STS-107: Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon re-entry, killing all 7 astronauts on board.^[2]
• February 3 – John W. Snow is sworn in as the new Secretary of Treasury, succeeding Paul O'Neill.
• February 5 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.
• February 7 – An unsuccessful attempt is made to contact Pioneer 10.
• February 20 – The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island claims the lives of 100 people.

March

• March 1
  • The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
  • The Turkish parliament vetoes U.S. troop access to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on Plan B, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf.
• March 5 – Lockyer v. Andrade, Ewing v. California: In two separate opinions, the Supreme Court of the United States, by 5–4 margins, upholds California's "three strikes and you're out" law.
• March 11 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi fighters threaten two U.S. U-2 surveillance planes, on missions for U.N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base.
• March 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United States, Britain, Portugal, and Spain meet at a summit in the Azores Islands. U.S. President Bush calls March 17 the "moment of truth", meaning that the "coalition of the willing" will make its final effort to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council, giving Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or be disarmed by force.
• March 17 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush gives an ultimatum: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons must either leave Iraq, or face military action at a time of the U.S.'s choosing.
• March 18
  • FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama, on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.
  • About $1 billion is taken from Iraq's Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States begins bombing Iraq.^[3]
• March 19 – The first American bombs drop on Baghdad after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not comply with U.S. President George W. Bush's 48-hour mandate demanding their exit from Iraq.
• March 20 – The US-led Iraq War begins.^[2]
• March 22 – The United States and the United Kingdom begin their shock and awe campaign, with a massive air strike on military targets in Baghdad.
• March 23
  • Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier with the 101st Airborne, kills two fellow soldiers in a grenade attack at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.
  • The 75th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Steve Martin, is held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Chicago wins Best Picture.
• March 30 – Meigs Field Airport in Chicago, Illinois, is demolished overnight.

April

April 9: M1A1 Abrams pose for a photo under the "Hands of Victory" in Ceremony Square, Baghdad, Iraq.

• April 3 – U.S. forces seize control of Saddam International Airport, changing the airport's name to Baghdad International Airport.
• April 3–12 – Iraq War: US forces defeat the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Battle of Baghdad.
• April 9 – Iraq War: U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.
• April 13
  • Iraq War: Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit falls to US forces.
  • President George W. Bush accuses Syria of possessing chemical weapons.^[2]
• April 21 – Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.
• April 29 – Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld confirms that US troops will be withdrawn from Saudi Arabia where they have been stationed since the 1991 Gulf War.^[2]

May

May 1: President George W. Bush's Mission Accomplished Speech

• May 1 – U. S. president George W. Bush lands on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, where he gives a speech announcing the end of major combat in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.^[2] A banner behind him declares "Mission Accomplished".
• May 3 – The Old Man of the Mountain, a rock formation in New Hampshire, crumbles after heavy rain.
• May 4 – Top Thrill Dragster opens in Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio as the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster.
• May 4–10 – A major severe weather outbreak spawns more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history; 393 tornadoes are reported in 19 states.
• May 23 – Dewey, the first deer cloned by scientists at Texas A&M University, is born.
• May 25 – After docking in Miami at 05:00, the SS Norway (old SS France) is severely damaged by a boiler explosion at 06:30, that kills seven, and injures 17 crew members. A few weeks later it is announced by Norwegian Cruise Line that she will never sail again as a commercial ocean liner.
• May 28 – President George W. Bush authorizes $350 billion worth of tax cuts over 10 years.^[2]
• May 31 – Eric Rudolph, suspected in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996, is captured in Murphy, North Carolina.

June

• June – As a result of the early 2000s recession, as well as the jobless recovery that followed, unemployment peaks at 6.3%, the highest since April 1994.
• June 4 – Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and then obstructing a federal investigation. Stewart also resigns as chairperson and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living.
• June 8th Caleb D. Jennings was born
• June 19 – The US Census Bureau announces that with 37 million, Hispanics constitute the largest minority in the USA (compared with 36 million African Americans).^[4]
• June 22 – The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska.
• June 23 – Grutter v. Bollinger: The Supreme Court of the United States upholds affirmative action in university admissions.
• June 26
  • A senior Department of State chemical and biological weapons expert testifies to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee that he was pressured to modify intelligence reports about Iraq.^[2]
  • Lawrence v. Texas: The U.S. Supreme Court declares sodomy laws unconstitutional.
• June 29 – A balcony collapse in Chicago kills 13.
• June 30 – In Irvine, California, Joseph Hunter Parker kills two Albertsons employees with a sword, before being shot to death by the police.

July

• July 8 – Douglas Williams goes on a shooting rampage in a Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, Mississippi, killing 6 and injuring 8 before committing suicide.
• July 14 – CIA leak scandal: Washington Post columnist Robert Novak publishes the name of Valerie Plame, blowing her cover as a CIA operative.
• July 22 – Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of Saddam Hussein, are killed by the U.S. military in Iraq, after being tipped off by an informant.
• July 26 – The electorate of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma approves a new constitution re-designating the tribe "Cherokee Nation" without "of Oklahoma" and specifically disenfranchising the Cherokee Freedmen.

August

• August 14 – A widespread power outage affects the northeastern United States and South-Central Canada.
• August 25 – The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, during Delta II.
• August 28 – Brian Douglas Wells, a pizza delivery man in Erie, Pennsylvania, is killed after a bomb fastened around his neck explodes. Wells was forced to rob a bank with the bomb collar on before it was detonated remotely.

September

• September 7 – President Bush announces a request for $87 billion from Congress for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.^[2]
• September 17 – President Bush concedes there is no evidence linking Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[2]
• September 18 – Hurricane Isabel makes landfall as a Category 2 Hurricane on North Carolina's Outer Banks. It directly kills 16 people in the Mid–Atlantic area.

October

• October 7 – 2003 California recall: Voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
• October 9 – The redesigned $20 bill is first released, containing many new security features not found in older bills.
• October 10 – Facing an investigation surrounding allegations of illegal drug use, American right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh publicly admits that he is addicted to prescription pain killers, and will seek treatment.
• October 15 – The 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash kills 11 after one of its ferries slams into a pier.
• October 25
  • The Florida Marlins defeat the New York Yankees to win their second World Series title.
  • The Cedar Fire begins in San Diego County, burning 280,000 acres (1,100 km²), 2,232 homes and killing 14.

November

• November 18
  • The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, rules anti-same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional in Massachusetts.
  • U.S. President George W. Bush makes a state visit to London in the midst of massive protests.
• November 20 – Iraq War: End of Operation Iron Hammer, an attempt to end the Iraq insurgency.^[2]

December

• December 1 – Boeing chairman and CEO Phil Condit resigns unexpectedly. He is replaced by Lewis Platt as non-executive chairman and Harry Stonecipher as president and CEO.
• December 13 – Iraq War: End of Operation Red Dawn resulting in the capture of Saddam Hussein in Tikrit.^[2]
• December 22 – San Simeon earthquake in California kills two.
• December 24
  • At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the French Government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the U.S. in response to terrorist concerns.
  • A BSE (mad cow disease) outbreak in Washington State is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia and Taiwan ban the import of beef from the United States.
• December 31 – British Airways Flight 223, a Boeing 747-400 flying from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles, is held for security checks after landing in Washington, DC due to intelligence suggesting a terrorist threat.^[5]

Ongoing

• Iraqi no-fly zones (1991–2003)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
• Iraq War (2003–2011)

Births

Deaths

See also

• 2003 in American television
• List of American films of 2003

References

External links

• Media related to 2003 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons