An Introduction to the Year 2003

January

1. A double suicide bombing occurs on January 5th in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 23.
2. Bad floods occur in Germany.
3. Astronomers at Princeton University discover the most distant extrasolar planet on the 7th of January.
4. Bushfires break out in Canberra on the 18th.
5. An earthquake occurs in Mexico on the 21st - 7.6 on the Richter scale.

February

1. 1st - Space shuttle Colombia disintegrates. An entry about the crew exists here.
2. 9th - Cricket World Cup begins, held in South Africa.
3. The SARS virus hits Hong Kong and Vietnam after spreading from China.

March

1. US/UK invasion of Iraq.

April

May

1. 24th - Eurovision song contest with Turkey winning.
2. 31st - Annual solar eclipse occurs.

June

1. 20th - Olympic Summer Games begin.

July

August

1. 1st - News of a weak gravitational shielding effect pertaining to Superconductivity is released.
2. 27th - The closest Mars has been to the Earth for 60 000 years.
3. Large scale power cuts occur in north-east USA and Canada.

September

1. 27th - the SMART-1 lunar satellite is launched.

October

1. 7th - Arnold Scwarzenegger is elected Governor of California.
2. 15th - Shenzhou 5 is launched (China's first manned space expedition).
3. 24th - Concorde is decommissioned.

The Baseball World Series

The 2003 World Series was the 100^th time that the championship of Major League   baseball has been won¹. This particular series and post-season was one of the most dramatic and exciting that baseball has ever seen. Through this post-season, baseball once again earned its title as America's past-time.

Note that while baseball is an internationally appealing game, the rule and terms can be confusing. For this, see h2g2's entry on Baseball Basics.

In the World Series, The Marlins defeated the powerful Yankees, also defeating a strong tradition and a powerful team. Their manager, Jack McKeon would also win Manager of the Year, and of course, every member of the team would receive World Champion rings.

November

1. 9th - Lunar eclipse occurs.
2. 20th - Istanbul is bombed.
3. 23rd - total solar eclipse.

December

1. 1st - using mobile phones whilst driving is made illegal in the UK (except N. Ireland).
2. 13th - USA captures Saddam Hussein in Tikrit.
3. 22nd - Earthquake kills 2 people in California.
4. 25th - Beagle 2 fails to communicate from Mars.
5. 26th - Earthquake devastates Iran.

Other Things You Could Write About Here

• Books Written/Published in 2003;
• Movies Made in 2003;
• Major Video Games Released in 2003;
• Most significant births and deaths of 2003;
• Nobel Prizes or the winners of other significant awards in 2003.