2003

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century – 21st century – 22nd century
Decades:	1970s  1980s  1990s  – 2000s –  2010s  2020s  2030s
Years:	2000 2001 2002 – 2003 – 2004 2005 2006

2003 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	2003 MMIII
Ab urbe condita	2756
Armenian calendar	1452 ԹՎ ՌՆԾԲ
Assyrian calendar	6753
Bahá'í calendar	159–160
Balinese saka calendar	1924–1925
Bengali calendar	1410
Berber calendar	2953
British Regnal year	51 Eliz. 2 – 52 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2547
Burmese calendar	1365
Byzantine calendar	7511–7512
Chinese calendar	壬午年 (Water Horse) 4699 or 4639     — to — 癸未年 (Water Goat) 4700 or 4640
Coptic calendar	1719–1720
Discordian calendar	3169
Ethiopian calendar	1995–1996
Hebrew calendar	5763–5764
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2059–2060
- Shaka Samvat	1924–1925
- Kali Yuga	5103–5104
Holocene calendar	12003
Igbo calendar	1003–1004
Iranian calendar	1381–1382
Islamic calendar	1423–1424
Japanese calendar	Heisei 15 (平成１５年)
Javanese calendar	1935–1936
Juche calendar	92
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4336
Minguo calendar	ROC 92 民國92年
Nanakshahi calendar	535
Thai solar calendar	2546
Tibetan calendar	阳水马年 (male Water-Horse) 2129 or 1748 or 976     — to — 阴水羊年 (female Water-Goat) 2130 or 1749 or 977
Unix time	1041379200 – 1072915199

2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday in the Gregorian calendar, the 3rd year of the 3rd millennium, the 3rd year of the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2000s decade.

Births

January

• January 12 - Farah Jefry, Saudi footballer

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 Bangladesh 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.
• October 31 – Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power.

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

Leopoldo Galtieri

• 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

Space Shuttle Columbia

Dolly the Sheep

Fred Rogers

• 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

Zoran Đinđić

• 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

Nina Simone

• April 21 – Nina Simone, American singer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1933)

May

Wendy Hiller

Robert Stack

June Carter Cash

Ilya Prigogine

• 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

Gregory Peck

Strom Thurmond

Katharine Hepburn

• 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

Barry White

Celia Cruz

Bob Hope

• 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

Idi Amin

Sérgio Vieira de Mello

Charles Bronson

• August 16 – Idi Amin, 3rd President of Uganda (b. 1925)
• August 19 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, East Timor United Nations diplomat (b. 1948)
• August 30 – Charles Bronson, American actor (b. 1921)

September

John Ritter

Johnny Cash

Elia Kazan

• 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

Bertram Brockhouse

Moktar Ould Daddah

Alija Izetbegović

• 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

Canaan Banana

Jonathan Brandis

Mario Beccaria

• 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

Heydar Aliyev

• 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)