This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 2003

	January 11th	Proclaiming that death penalty process is arbitrary and immoral, the governor of Illinois, George Ryan, commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates.
	January 24th	Italian businessman, Gianni Agnelli, died at the age of 81. He was the founder and principal shareholder of the Fiat automotive company as well as the owner of the famous football club, Juventus.
	January 30th	Same sex marriages were legalized in Belgium. Belgium was the seccond country in the world to legalize them after the Netherlands did in 2001.
	February 1st	The space shuttle, Columbia, disintegrated while it was re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. All seven astronauts onboard were killed.
	February 18th	A fire in South Korea's Daegu subway resulted in the death of more than 198 people. The fire was set by an arsonist who wanted to protest the poor medical treatment the state was providing him. He survived the fire.
	February 20th	A fire at a nightclub in Rhode Island, USA, resulted in the death of 100 people.
	March 11th	The International Criminal Court was founded in The Hague.
	March 12th	Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Dindic, was assassinated in Belgrade.
	April 7th	US army troops captured the city of Baghdad, Iraq.
	April 16th	The Accession Treaty was signed in Athens, Greece. By the terms of the treaty, 10 new countries were admitted in the ranks of the European Union.
	April 21st	American musician, Nina Simone, died at the age of 70 at Carry-le-Rouet., in the South of France, where she had settled the last 10 years of her life.
	April 28th	Apple Computer launched its iTunes online music store/ It sold more than 1 million songs in its first week of operation.
	May 11th	Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera (salt shaker) was stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The estimated price to the saliera was 50 million euros. It was later recovered in 2006.
	May 12th	Terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, carried out a bombing of a compound of bulidings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The residents of the compound were primarily Americans and other westerners, of which 26 died and 160 were wounded by the bombings.
	May 16th	33 civilians were killed and more than 100 were injured in a series of suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco.
	May 21st	An earthquake hit northern Algeria, killing more than 2,000 people.
	June 12th	American actor, Gregory Peck, died at the age of 89. He is considered as one of the legendary stars of the American film industry of the 20th century.
	June 21st	Canadian hockey coach, Roger Neilson, died at the age of 68. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential figure in the world of hockey throughout the 20th century.
	June 24th	Russian president, Vladimir Putin, arrived in London on the first visit to Britain by a Russian leader in more than 100 years.
	June 26th	The United States supreme court ruled that all state laws prohibiting homosexual relationships were unconstitutional.
	June 29th	American actress, Katharine Hepburn, died at the age of 95. She was one of the legends of 20th century cinema who still holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar nominations with twelve as well as wins with four.
	July 4th	American musician, Barry White, died at the age of 59. He was an influential figure of the soul and disco musical movements.
	July 15th	Netscape Communications Corporation was disbanded by the parent company, AOL Time Warner.
	July 16th	The people of Corsica voted down a referendum which called for increased autonomy from the rule of France. The referendum was rejected on a 50.98 percent against, and 49.02 percent for.
	July 27th	English-born entertainer, Bob Hope, died at the age of 100. He was one of the all-time great entertainment industry personas of the 20th century. He was said to be worth over 1 billion dollars at the time of his death.
	July 30th	The last 'original style' Volkswagen Beetle was manufactured in Mexico. Volkswagen had introduced the 'new' Beetle in 1998.
	August 9th	American actor, Gregory Hines, died of liver cancer at the age of 57 in Los Angeles, California.
	August 10th	The hottest day ever in Great Britain was recorded when temperatures exceeded 38C (100F).
	August 11th	NATO took over the command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. It was the first major operation undertaken by the organization outside the European theater in its 54-year-history.
	August 14th	A massive power blackout took place in the north eastern territories of the United States and Canada. It is the largest power blackout in the history of the North American continent.
	August 16th	Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, died in Saudi Arabia at the age of 74. He had assumed power through a military coup but was himself deposed in 1979. He is widely considered as one of the most brutal dictators of the 20th century.
	August 19th	A car bomb was detonated outside the UN headquarters in Iraq. 22 UN employees were killed in the blast.
	August 25th	48 people were killed after two bombs were detonated by Islamic extremists in Mumbai, India.
	August 27th	Mars made its closest approach to Earth in almost sixty thousand years.
	August 30th	American actor, Charles Bronson, died at the age of 82. He was one of 15 children born to a Lithuanian immigrant. In 1943, he joined the United States Army Air Forces and served in the European front as the gunner onboard B-29 bombers. He is most remembered for his numerous 'tough guy' roles.
	September 12th	The United Nations lifted the sanctions it had imposed against Libya in 1992 due to its refusal to release the terrorists who had committed the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
	September 14th	After a referendum Sweden rejected adopting the euro as its currency.
	September 26th	British singer, Robert Palmer, died in Paris, France as a result of a heart attack at the age of 54.
	September 28th	Film director, Elia Kazan, died at the age of 94. He was born Elias Kazanjoglou to Greek parents. He attended Yale University and eventually rose to become one of the most celebrated and acclaimed directors of world cinema.
	October 19th	Pope John Paul II, beatified (recognized her as a saint) Mother Teresa, 8 years after her death.
	October 24th	The Concorde made its last commercial flight.
	October 25th	The California Cedar Fire was first reported. It was one of the largest fires in US history which burned over 3000 square kilometers.
	November 20th	Two powerful bombs exploded in Istanbul, Turkey destroying the office of the HSBC bank as well as that of the British consulate. 30 people died in the bombings and over 300 were wounded.
	November 26th	The supersonic passenger jet, Concorde, made its last ever flight (non commercial) over Bristol, UK. The last commercial flight of the Concorde had been in October of the same year.
	December 13th	Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured near his home town of Tikrit.
	December 14th	An assassination attempt was made against the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharaf.
	December 17th	The third part of the movie trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, was released around the world. The third instalment was the second highest grossing movie of all time, behind the Titanic.
	December 26th	A strong earthquake hit the Iranian city of Bam, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of people.
	December 27th	British actor, Sir Alan Bates, died at the age of 69.

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