:: wikimiki.org ::

Ilan Ramon

Ilan Ramon

Ilan Ramon (Hebrew: אילן רמון; June 20, 1954–February 1, 2003) was a combat pilot in the Israeli Air Force and later Israel's first astronaut and space shuttle payload specialist of STS-107 (Columbia) who was killed when the craft disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Personal data

Born June 20, 1954 in Ramat Gan Israel. Died on February 1, 2003 over the southern United States when Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing. He is survived by his wife Rona and their four children. He enjoyed snow skiing, squash. Ramon's mother and grandmother survived imprisonment in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Although a secular Jew, Ramon sought to follow Jewish observances while in orbit. In an interview he said, "I feel I am representing all Jews and all Israelis". He was the first astronaut on a NASA flight to request kosher food. He also gathered rabbinic opinions about observing the Jewish sabbath (Shabbat) while in space, since the period between sunrises in orbit is approximately 90 minutes. Ramon was the first Israeli in space. Aboard STS-107, Ramon carried a pencil sketch, "Moon Landscape", which was drawn by 14-year-old Petr Ginz who was killed in the Auschwitz death camp during the Holocaust. Ramon also brought a credit card-sized microfiche copy of the Torah given to him by Israeli president Moshe Katsav.

Education

- 1972: Graduated from High School
- 1987: Received a bachelor of science degree in electronics and computer engineering from the Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Air Force Career

Ramon was a Colonel and fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, with thousands of hours flying experience. He fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In 1980, he was in the first group of Israeli pilots to fly F-16s donated to Israel by the United States. In 1981, he took part in the bombing of Iraq's unfinished Osiraq nuclear reactor. In 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. From 1974-1976 he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations. 1976-1980 was spent in Mirage III-C training and operations. In 1980, as one of the IAF’s establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, he attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. From 1981-1983, he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron. From 1983-1987, he attended the University of Tel Aviv. From 1988-1990, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, F-4 Phantom Squadron. During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990-1992, he served as Squadron Commander, F-16 Squadron. From 1992-1994, he was Head of the Aircraft Branch in the Operations Requirement Department. In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and assigned as Head of the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition. He stayed at this post until 1998. Colonel Ramon accumulated over 3,000 flight hours on the A-4, Mirage III-C, and F-4, and over 1,000 flight hours on the F-16.

NASA Experience

NASA on-ground trainings

In 1997, Colonel Ramon was selected as a Payload Specialist. He was designated to train as prime for a Space Shuttle mission with a payload that included a multispectral camera for recording desert aerosol. In July 1998, he reported for training at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, where he trained until 2003. He flew aboard STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space.

Space flight experience

STS-107 Columbia (January 16 to February 1, 2003). The 16-day flight was a dedicated science and research mission. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments. The STS-107 mission ended abruptly on February 1, 2003 when Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes before scheduled landing.

Conspiracy theory about Ilan Ramon's mission

They are peoples who claim that Ilan Ramon was part of a secret project which its target is to perform an artificial tornado storm. The conspiracy theory's supporters saying that the Mediterranean Sea tornado storm was a result of a military experiment which have been done in outer space, in a purpose to make an artificial tornado storms for military purposes.

Awards and Honors

- Military decorations:
- Yom Kippur War (1973)
- Operation Peace of the Galilee (1982)
- F-16 1,000 Flight Hours (1992).
- Posthumously awarded:
- the NASA Space Flight Medal
- the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
- the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
- Israeli national hero

Tributes

- Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon
- Ramon Hill, in the Columbia Hills, Mars
- Ramon Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments, at the Florida Institute of Technology is named after him.

References

- [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/PS/ramon.html Official Bio]
- [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-107/memorial/ramon.html Ilan Ramon STS-107 Crew Memorial]
- [http://www.floridatoday.com/columbia/columbiastory2N1029TECH.htm Florida Today - Florida Tech dedicates dorms to Columbia 7 - October 29, 2003]
- [http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=2650 A collection of articles about Ilan Ramon] chabad.org

June 20

June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining.

Events

- 451- According to some sources, this was the date of the Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' victory over Attila the Hun.
- 1214 - University of Oxford receives its charter.
- 1631 - The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
- 1685 - Monmouth Rebellion: The Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
- 1756 - British garrison imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
- 1782 - The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
- 1789 - Deputies of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath
- 1791 - The Flight to Varennes began.
- 1819 - The US vessel Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, most of the journey was made under sail.
- 1837 - Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
- 1862 - Barbu Catargiu is assassinated.
- 1863 - West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
- 1877 - Alexander Graham Bell installs world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
- 1893 - Lizzie Borden is acquitted of murdering her stepmother and father.
- 1919 - 150 die at the Teatro Yaguez fire, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
- 1939 - Benny Goodman's Song School ends its radio series.
- 1948 - Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show, debuts.
- 1956 - A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashed in Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey killing 74 people
- 1960 - Independence of Mali and Senegal.
- 1963 - The so-called "red telephone" was established between Soviet Union and United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1966 - Canada sells 336 million bushels (9.14 teragrams) of wheat to Soviet Union.
- 1969 - Jacques Chaban-Delmas becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1969 - Greg Gilbo was born
- 1977 - Oil begins to flow through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).
- 1980 - Roberto Duran starts his classic boxing trilogy with Sugar Ray Leonard by defeating him in Canada by a decision in 15 rounds, to gain the WBC world Welterweight championship.
- 1983 - LZW patent filed in USA.
- 1990 - Asteroid Eureka discovered.
- 1991 - German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.
- 2001 - Pervez Musharraf becomes president of Pakistan
- 2001 - In Texas, USA, Andrea Yates drowns her children in a bathtub and admits to the crime. She would be sentenced to life in prison.
- 2003 - LZW patent expires in USA.
- 2003 - Formation of Wikimedia Foundation announced.
- 2004 - Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the 20th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 2005 - Terri Schiavo's remains are buried in Clearwater, Florida.

Births

- 1005 - Ali az-Zahir, caliph (d. 1036)
- 1389 - John, Duke of Bedford, regent of England (d. 1435)
- 1566 (O.S.) - King Sigismund III of Poland (d. 1632)
- 1583 - Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and statesman (d. 1652)
- 1634 - Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy (d. 1675)
- 1642 (O.S.) - George Hickes, English minister and scholar (d. 1715)
- 1647 - John George III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1691)
- 1717 - Jacques Saly, French sculptor (d. 1776)
- 1723 - Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1816)
- 1723 - Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian (d. 1808)
- 1756 - Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish composer (d. 1792)
- 1763 - Wolfe Tone, Irish patriot (d. 1798)
- 1771 - Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist and entrepreneur (d. 1820)
- 1786 - Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet
- 1808 - Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (d. 1888)
- 1819 - Jacques Offenbach, German composer (d. 1880)
- 1860 - Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
- 1861 - Frederick Hopkins, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (d. 1947)
- 1887 - Kurt Schwitters, German painter and writer (d. 1948)
- 1891 - John A. Costello, second Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland (d. 1976)
- 1899 - Jean Moulin, French Resistance leader (d. 1943)
- 1905 - Lillian Hellman, American playwright (d. 1984)
- 1906 - Catherine Cookson, British novelist (d. 1998)
- 1909 - Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
- 1912 - Anthony Buckeridge, English author (d. 2004)
- 1924 - Chet Atkins, American guitar player
- 1928 - Jean-Marie Le Pen, French politician
- 1930 - Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish artist
- 1931 - Olympia Dukakis, American actress
- 1931 - Martin Landau, American actor
- 1936 - Danny Aiello, American actor
- 1940 - Eugen Drewermann, German theologian
- 1940 - John Mahoney, English actor
- 1941 - Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut
- 1942 - Brian Wilson, American bass player and singer (The Beach Boys)
- 1944 - Cheryl Holdridge, American actress
- 1945 - Anne Murray, Canadian singer
- 1946 - Xanana Gusmão, President of East Timor
- 1947 - Dolores "LaLa" Brooks, American singer the Crystals
- 1947 - Candy Clark, American actress
- 1948 - Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
- 1949 - Lionel Richie, American musician and singer The Commodores
- 1951 - Tress MacNeille, American voice actress
- 1952 - John Goodman, American actor
- 1954 - Michael Anthony, American musician
- 1956 - Ace Andres, American musician
- 1958 - Chuck Wagner, American actor
- 1960 - John Taylor, English musician, Duran Duran
- 1960 - Jeremy Monteiro, Singaporean pianist
- 1963 - Viktor Kožený, Czech businessman
- 1967 - Nicole Kidman, Australian actress
- 1968 - Robert Rodríguez, American Film-maker
- 1970 - Russell Garcia, British field hockey player
- 1970 - Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco
- 1971 - Jeordie White, American bassist
- 1977 - Stefán H. Ófeigsson, Icelandic space engineer
- 1978 - Frank Lampard, English footballer
- 1981 - Ardian Gashi, Norwegian footballer

Deaths

- 451 - Theodorid, King of the Visigoths
- 840 - Louis the Pious, King of the Franks, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (b. 778)
- 1597 - Willem Barentsz, Dutch navigator
- 1668 - Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (b. 1620)
- 1776 - Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (b. 1704)
- 1787 - Karl Friedrich Abel, German composer (b. 1723)
- 1800 - Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician (b. 1719)
- 1820 - Manuel Belgrano, Argentine lawyer and politician (b. 1770)
- 1837 - William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1765)
- 1866 - Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (b. 1826)
- 1925 - Josef Breuer, Austrian psychologist (b. 1842)
- 1945 - Bruno Frank, German author (b. 1878)
- 1947 - Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (whacked) (b. 1906)
- 1958 - Kurt Alder, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1993 - Vince Foster, Deputy White House Counsel (suicide) (b. 1945)
- 1995 - Emil Cioran, Romanian-born French philosopher and essayist (b. 1911)
- 1998 - Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (b. 1942)
- 1999 - Clifton Fadiman, American author (b. 1902)
- 2002 - Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (b. 1905)
- 2002 - Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
- 2003 - Bob Stump, U.S. Congressman from Arizona (b. 1927)
- 2005 - Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

- Day of The Royal Victorian Order
- Roman Empire – Festival in honor of Summanus
- Ancient Latvia – Zalu Diena
- UNHCR World Refugee Day
- Flag Day in Argentina (1938)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/20 BBC: On This Day] ---- June 19 - June 21 - May 20 - July 20 – listing of all days ko:6월 20일 ms:20 Jun ja:6月20日 simple:June 20 th:20 มิถุนายน

1954

1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-February

- January 1 - Soviet Union no longer demands war reparations from East Germany
- January 12 - Large-scale avalanches in Austria - over 20 dead
- January 14 - The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation
- January 14 - Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio.
- January 15 - Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya
- January 17 - In Yugoslavia, Milovan Djilas, Tito's second-in-command, is relieved of his duties
- January 20 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations
- January 21 - The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut, by First Lady of the United States Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- January 25 - The foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union meet at the Berlin Conference.
- January 26 - Milpitas, California was incorporated as a city.
- January 27 - Very freezing weather in Europe
- February 3 - Queen Elizabeth II is the first reigning monarch to visit Australia
- February 10 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam
- February 23 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- February 25 - Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.

March-April

- March 1 - Nuclear testing: Officials announce that an American hydrogen bomb test had been conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
- March 1 - Four Puerto Ricans open fire on United States House of Representatives and wound five. Security guards apprehend them.
- March 8 - PR Newswire founded in New York by Herb Muschel.
- March 9 - Edward Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produce a 30-minute See It Now special entitled "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy".
- March 12 - Finland and Germany officially end the state of war.
- March 13 - French troops begin battle against Vietminh in Dien Bien Phu.
- March 19 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
- March 22 - The London bullion market reopens (it was closed in 1939).
- March 22 - London gold exchange opens for the first time since the war.
- March 23 - Viet Minh capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu - French forces are partially isolated.
- March 25 - RCA manufactures first color TV set (12" screen; price: $1,000).
- March 25 - Soviet Union recognizes sovereignty of East Germany but Soviet troops remain in the country.
- March 29 - C-47 with Genevieve de Galard on board is incapacitated on Dien Bien Phu runway.
- March 30 - Canada's first subway opens in Toronto.
- April 1 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
- April 3 - Vladimir Petrov defects from the Soviet Union and asks to seek political asylum in Australia.
- April 7 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
- April 12 - Original recording of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets.
- April 14 - – Aneurin Bevan resigns from the UK Labour shadow cabinet.
- April 22 - Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.

May

- May 1 - Taku (city in Japan) founded
- May 6 - Roger Bannister runs the first four minute mile
- May 7 - Construction started on Michigan's Mackinac Bridge.
- May 7 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).
- May 14 - Boeing 707 released after about two years of development.
- May 17 - United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas 347 US 483 1954
- May 17 - Petrov Royal Commission in Australia begains it's inqury
- May 20 - Chiang Kai-shek is reelected president of the Republic of China by the National Assembly.
- May 20 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty launches Belarusian language programming (see also Piotra Sych).
- May 29 - Robert Menzies Government re-elected for 4th term in Australia.

June-July

- June 1 - Radio statio Sender Freies Berlin begins broadcasting
- June 9 - McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army
- June 14 - On United States Flag Day, the words "under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance
- June 15 - UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) is formed in Basel, Switzerland
- June 17 - Military coup in Guatemala
- June 18 - Pierre Mendes-France becomes prime minister of France
- June 19 - The last regular-service streetcar operated by Twin City Rapid Transit runs in Minneapolis.
- June 27 - Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán steps down in a CIA-sponsored military coup–Operation PBSUCCESS–triggering a bloody civil war that would continue for more than 35 years.
- June 27 - The world's first atomic power station opened at Obnisnsk, near Moscow.
- July 3 - Food rationing ends in Britain
- July 4 - End of rationing of meat ends all the food rationing in Britain
- July 4 - West Germany beat Hungary 3-2 to win the
- July 5 - Andhra Pradesh High Court is established.
- July 7 - In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record
- July 15 - Maiden flight of Boeing 707
- July 21 - First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam
- July 28 - Foundation of the Situationist International.
- July 31 - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition.

August-October

- August - First flight of a B-52 Stratofortress.
- August 6 - Emilie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets, dies of asphyxiation following a epileptic seizure at Sainte Agathe, Quebec.
- August 16 - Volume 1, Issue 1 of Sports Illustrated is published
- August 24 - President of Brazil, Getulio Vargas, commits suicide; he's been accused of conspiracy to murder an air force officer.
- September 3 - The last new episode of The Lone Ranger is aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years
- September 6 - SEATO treaty signed in Manila, Philippines
- September 8 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established in Bangkok, Thailand
- September 9 - An earthquake centered on the city of Oleansville in Algeria - 1500 dead and thousands homeless
- September 11 - First Miss America Pageant broadcast on television
- September 14 - USSR tests nuclear weapon
- September 30 - USS Nautilus, 1st atomic-powered vessel (submarine), commissioned by the US Navy
- October 11 - Vietnam War: The Viet Minh takes control of North Vietnam.
- October 18 - Texas Instruments announces the worldwide first Transistor radio.
- October 20 - Dock workers' strike expands in England
- October 23 - West Germany joins NATO
- October 26 - – Member of Muslim Brotherhood Abdul Munim Abdul Rauf tries to kill Gamal Abdal Nasser
- October 31 - Algerian War of Independence: The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.

November-December

- November - The main immigration port-of-entry in New York Harbor at Ellis Island closes.
- November 2 - Dock workers' strike in England ends
- November 3 - The first in the Godzilla series of films is released in Japan.
- November 10 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington National Cemetery
- November 13 - Don Estes invents the disrupter (a part to help combines work)
- November 14 - Egyptian president Mohammed Naguib is deposed - Gamal Abdel Nasser replaces him
- November 23 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at an all-time high of 382.74. More significantly, this is the first time the Dow has surpassed its 1929 peak level reached just before that year's crash.
- November 30 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, a 4 kg meteorite crashes through the roof of a house and hits Ann Hodges, badly bruising her, in the first documented case of an object from outer space hitting a person.
- December 2 - Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 67 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
- December 24 - Laos becomes independent.

unknown dates

- The first organ transplants are done in Boston and Paris.
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu between French and Viet Minh forces in Indochina
- Boy Scouts of America desegregates on the basis of race
- Stop signs are changed from black-on-yellow to white-on-red
- Gerbils (Meriones Unguiculatus), brought to the United States by Dr. Victor Schwentker.
- Unification Church founded.
- Case of Lothar Malskat, who had admitted that he had painted the frescoes in Marienkirche himself, goes into trial

Births

January-February

- January 2 - Henry Bonilla, American politician
- January 4 - Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott, English professional poker player
- January 6 - Anthony Minghella, British film director
- January 12 - Howard Stern, American radio host
- January 17 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of Robert F Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy and nephew of U.S president John F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy
- January 22 - Peter Pilz, Austrian politician
- January 23 - Franco De Vita, Venezuelan singer and songwriter
- January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, American actress, talk show host, producer, and publisher
- January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, Japanese cartoonist
- February 1 - Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
- February 2 - Christie Brinkley, American model
- February 6 - Argusto Emfazie, American occultist and author
- February 12 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
- February 13 - Donnie Moore, baseball player (d. 1989)
- February 15 - Matt Groening, American cartoonist
- February 18 - John Travolta, American actor
- February 19 - Socrates, Brazilian footballer
- February 20 - Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
- February 20 - Patty Hearst, American heiress and kidnapping victim
- February 23 - Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
- February 25 - John Doe, American musician
- February 26 - Michael Bolton, American singer

March-June

- March 1 - Ron Howard, American actor, director, producer
- March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, Canadian actress
- March 8 - David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
- March 13 - The Baroness Amos, British politician
- March 15 - Craig Wasson, American actor
- March 16 - Nancy Wilson, American singer, musician, and actress
- March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, British actress
- March 24 - Robert Carradine, American actor
- March 29 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (d. 1985)
- April 7 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born actor
- April 7 - Tony Dorsett, American football player
- April 9 - Dennis Quaid, American actor
- April 10 - Peter MacNicol, American actor
- April 15 - Seka, American actress
- April 17 - Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
- April 18 - Rick Moranis, Canadian actor and comedian
- April 28 - Robert Sargent Shriver III son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of John F Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy
- April 29 - Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian
- May 1 - Archie Norman, British politician and businessman
- May 7 - Amy Heckerling, American film director
- May 8 - David Keith, American actor
- May 19 - Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
- June 9 - John Hagelin, American physicist and U.S. Presidential candidate
- June 20 - Ilan Ramon, Israeli Air Force, Israel first astronaut (d. 2003)
- June 22 - Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
- June 26 - Steve Barton, American actor (d. 2001)
- June 27 - Ron Kirk, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
- June 30 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)

July-October

- July 5 - John Wright, New Zealand cricket captains
- July 10 - Neil Tennant, British musician
- July 17 - Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
- July 25 - Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)
- August 1 - Michael J. Badnarik, software engineer and U.S. Presidential candidate
- August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer
- August 14 - Mark Fidrych, baseball player
- August 16 - James Cameron, Canadian-born film director
- August 20 - Al Roker, American television broadcaster
- August 21 - Ivan Stang, American author and publisher
- August 25 - Elvis Costello, British singer
- August 26 - Pauline Hanson, Australian politician
- September 13 - Steve Kilbey, Australian musician
- September 21 - Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician
- September 23 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
- September 26 - Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager and television host
- September 30 - Barry Williams, American actor
- October 1 - Martin Strel, Slovenian swimmer
- October 3 - Dennis Eckersley, baseball player
- October 3 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (d. 1990)
- October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor
- October 10 - David Lee Roth, American singer
- October 13 - Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician
- October 15 - Peter Bakowski, Australian poet
- October 24 - Mike Rounds, Governor of South Dakota

November-December

- November 2 - Pat Croce, American entrepreneur
- November 3 - Brigitte Lin, Actress
- November 7 - Kamal Haasan, Indian actor
- November 8 - Michael D. Brown, U.S. Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response
- November 14 - Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
- November 14 - Willie Hernández, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- November 15 - Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- November 16 - Bruce Edwards, golf caddy (d. 2004)
- November 27 - Patricia McPherson, American actress
- December 2 - Dan Butler, American actor
- December 7 - Mark Hofmann, American forger and murderer
- December 14 - Ib Andersen, Danish dancer
- December 14 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
- December 20 - Michael Badalucco, American actor
- December 26 - Susan Butcher, American dog-sled racer
- December 28 - Denzel Washington, American actor

Unknown dates

- Nenad Prokic, Serbian playwright

Deaths

- January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (b. 1879)
- February 12 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)
- March 7 - Otto Diels, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- March 31 - Edwin Howard Armstrong, American electrical engineer and inventor (b. 1890)
- May 6 - B.C. Forbes, Scottish-born publisher (b. 1880)
- May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
- April 10 - Auguste Lumière, French inventor (b. 1862)
- April 28 - Léon Jouhaux, French labor leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1879)
- June 7 - Alan Turing, British mathematician (b. 1912)
- July 11 - Henry Valentine Knaggs, English physician and author (b. 1859)
- July 13 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (b. 1907)
- July 14 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
- July 29 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
- August 24 - Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil (b. 1882)
- September 21 - Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese pearl farm pioneer (b. 1858)
- November 3 - Henri Matisse, French painter (b. 1869)
- November 28 - Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- November 29 - Dink Johnson, American musician (b. 1892)
- November 30 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor (b. 1886)
- December 8 - Claude Cahun, French photographer and writer (b. 1894)
- December 30 - Eugen, Archduke of Austria, Austrian field marshal (b. 1863)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Max Born, Walther Bothe
- Chemistry - Linus Carl Pauling
- Medicine - John Franklin Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, Frederick Chapman Robbins
- Literature - Ernest Hemingway
- Peace - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Fields Medalists

- Kunihiko Kodaira, Jean-Pierre Serre Category:1954 ko:1954년 ms:1954 ja:1954年 simple:1954 th:พ.ศ. 2497

2003

2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Freshwater
- European Disability Year
- Blog Year See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January

- January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil.
- January 1 - Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland.
- January 8 - US Airways flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina killing all 21 people aboard.
- January 15 - The United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft allowing the extension of copyright terms in the U.S.
- January 24 - The new United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
- January 25 - Central Line train crashes into the tunnel wall at Chancery Lane station in London, injuring 34 people.
- January 25 - An international group of volunteers left London and headed for Baghdad to act as voluntary human shields, hoping to avert a U.S. invasion.
- January 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic release a statement, the letter of the eight, demonstrating support for the United States' plans for an invasion of Iraq.

February

February
- February 1 - The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry, killing all seven astronauts onboard.
- February 1 - In Northern Ireland, The Protestant UDA Belfast leader John Gregg is killed by a loyalist faction.
- February 3 - The worldwide movie premiere of Shanghai Knights was held at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
- February 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.
- February 9 - Cricket World Cup begins in South Africa.
- February 15 - Global protests against Iraq war - more than ten million people protest in over 600 cities worldwide, the largest war protest to take place before the war occurred.
- February 17 - Antwerp Diamond Center in Belgium opens its vaults after weekend and discovers that unknown burglars had stolen diamonds worth $100 million - largest diamond theft so far.
- February 26 - An American businessman is admitted to the Vietnam France Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. WHO doctor Carlo Urbani reports the unusual highly contagious disease to WHO. Both the businessman and Carlo Urbani die of SARS in March.

March

- March 1 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Arab Emirates calls for Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to step down to avoid war. The sentiment is later echoed by Bahrain and Kuwait
- March 1 - The Turkish parliment vetos the access of the U.S troops to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on the B Plan, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf.
- March 1 - The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service moves to the United States Department of Homeland Security
- March 1 - Boxer Roy Jones Jr. beats John Ruiz to become WBA champion
- March 1 - War on Terrorism: Authorities in Pakistan capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks along with money man Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi.
- March 1 - Ohio celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- March 5 - The Supreme Court of the United States by a 5-4 margin 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, flying missions for U.N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base.
- March 12 - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić assassinated in Belgrade
- March 12 - WHO issues a global alert on SARS.
- March 12 - Iraq disarmament crisis: British prime minister Tony Blair proposes an amendment to the possible 18th U.N. resolution, which would call for Iraq to meet certain benchmarks to prove that it was disarming. The amendment is immediately rejected by France, who promises to veto any new resolution.
- March 13 - Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints had been found in Italy
- March 15 - Hu Jintao becomes president of the People's Republic of China, replacing Jiang Zemin.
- 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 Monday, March 17th, the "moment of Truth", meaning that the "coalition of the willing" would make its final effort to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council that would give Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or to 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 19 - First American bombs dropped on Baghdad, Iraq. President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not comply with President Bush's 48 hour mandate demanding their exit from Iraq.
- March 20 - 2003 Iraq war: Land troops from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invade Iraq.
- 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 - Cricket World Cup ends as Australia wins over India in Centurion, South Africa.
- March 29 - WHO doctor Carlo Urbani, who first identified SARS, dies of the disease.
- March 30 - The Undertaker defeated the Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match, boosting his Wrestlemania record to 11-0.

April

April.]]
- April 3 - Passenger bus hits remote-controlled land mine in the Chechen capital, killing at least 8.
- April 9 - U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, apparently ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.
- April 14 - Human Genome Project successfully completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.
- April 17 - The Stevens Report concludes that members of the RUC and British Army cooperated with the UDA in the killings of Catholics in Northern Ireland
- April 21 - Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.
- April 30 - The last American owned vehicle frame manufacturer, [http://web.archive.org/web/20010623093543/www.immsp.com/index.htm Midland Steel Products] goes [http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2166844/detail.html out of business] after almost 110 years in business, laying off almost 250 people.

May

- May 1 - George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, where he gave a speech announcing end of major combat in the Iraq war.
- May 2 - Monkeyman superhero hoax begins in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK
- May 3 - Old Man of the Mountain, rock formation in New Hampshire, crumbles after heavy rain
- May 4-10 - A major severe weather outbreak spawned more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history. 393 tornadoes were reported in 19 states.
- May 11 - Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera is stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
- May 12 - Suicide truck-bomb attack kills at least 60 at a government compound in northern Chechnya.
- May 12 - In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 26 people are killed in the Riyadh Compound Bombings.
- May 14 - Female suicide bomber blows up explosives strapped to her waist in crowd of thousands of Muslim pilgrims, killing at least 18 people in Chechnya.
- May 16 - In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- May 19 - Pen Hadow becomes the first man to walk alone, without any outside help, from Canada to the North Pole
- May 23 - The birth of Dewey, the first cloned deer by scientists at Texas A&M University
- May 26 - A draft of the proposed European constitution is unveiled.
- May 28 - The birth of Prometea, the first cloned horse by Italian scientists.
- May 31 - Eric Rudolph, the suspected person to have carried out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing is captured in North Carolina behind a Save-A-Lot store.

June

- June 1 - The People's Republic of China begins filling the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam, raising the water level near the dam over 100 metres.
- June 4 - Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and then obstructing a federal investigation. Stewart also resigned as chairperson and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living.
- June 5 - Female suicide bomber detonates bomb near a bus carrying soldiers and civilians to a military airfield in Mozdok, a major staging point for Russian troops in Chechnya, killing at least 16 people.
- June 15 - 2003 NBA Finals end. The San Antonio Spurs defeat the New Jersey Nets, 4 games to 2.
- June 22 - The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska, USA.
- June 23 - U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in university admissions in Grutter v. Bollinger
- June 26 - U.S. Supreme Court rules sodomy laws unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas

July

- July 1 - 500,000 Hong Kong people march to protest Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, which redefined treason controversially.
- July 2 - International Olympic Committee session in Prague. Vancouver ,Canada is declared the Host City for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010.
- July 5 - SARS is declared to be contained by WHO.
- July 5 - Double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert kills the female attackers and 15 other people.
- July 6 - Residents of Corsica reject a referendum for increased autonomy for the region from France by a very narrow margin.
- July 7 - Canon Jeffrey John, first would-be gay bishop in the Church of England, withdraws his acceptance of the post of The Bishop of Reading after discussions with the church leaders
- July 10 - Russian security agent dies in Moscow while trying to defuse a bomb a woman had tried to carry into a cafe on central Moscow's main street.
- July 14 - U.S. columnist Robert Novak publishes the name of Valerie Plame, blowing her cover as a CIA operative. CIA leak scandal begins.
- July 18 - Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and proposes the first European constitution
- July 18 - The body of Dr. David Kelly, a scientist at the Ministry of Defence, is found a few miles from his home, leading to the Hutton inquiry
- July 23 - Operation Warrior Sweep is the first major military deployment of the Afghan National Army
- July 24 - The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, Operation Helpem Fren, led by Australia, begins in the Solomon Islands
- July 30 - The last old-style Volkswagen Beetle rolls off its production line in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico.

August

- August 1 - Suicide bomber rams truck filled with explosives into a military hospital near Chechnya, killing 50 people, including Russian troops wounded in Chechnya.
- August 2 - The United Nations authorizes an international peacekeeping force for Liberia.
- August 10 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK - 38.1°C (100.6°F) at Gravesend in Kent and Kew Botanic Gardens, London. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
- August 11 - NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
- August 11 - Jemaah Islamiah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
- August 14 - Widespread power outage affects northeast United States and Canada.
- August 14 - 6.4 Richter scale earthquake near the Greek Ionian island of Lefkada - 24 injured
- August 22 - 21 killed at the Brazilian rocket complex in Alcântara due to a premature ignition of a solid rocket booster.
- August 25 - 52 killed in two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.
- August 27 - Perigee of Mars

September

- September 5 - Roller coaster accident at Disneyland injures 10 and kills one.
- September 10 - Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh is stabbed in a Stockholm department store and dies the next day.
- September 14 - Sweden rejects adopting the Euro in a referendum. (Results.)
- September 14 - Estonia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
- September 15 - ELN kidnaps 8 foreign tourists in the Ciudad Perdida - they demand a human rights investigation and release last of the hostages three months later
- September 16 - Two suicide bombers drive a truck laden with explosives into a government security services building near Chechnya, killing three people and injuring 25.
- September 27 - Smart 1 is launched.
- September 27 - The Uniterran Church was founded in Victor, NY
- September 28 - a power failure affected all of Italy except Sardinia, cutting service to more than 56 million people.
- September 29 - Hurricane Juan makes landfall at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as a category 2 storm. Two were killed directly and 5 indirectly.

October

October
- October 7 - 2003 California recall: Voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
- October 10 - Facing an investigation surrounding allegations of illegal drug use, American Right Wing radio host Rush Limbaugh publically admits that he is addicted to prescription pain killers and will seek treatment.
- October 14 - The Florida Marlins defeat the Chicago Cubs in Game 6 of Major League Baseball's National League Championship Series; the game is remembered for Cubs fan Steve Bartman interfering with a foul ball which could have helped Chicago win the game and the series.
- October 15 - China launches Shenzhou 5, their first manned space mission.
- October 16 - The Boston Red Sox lose to their hated rivals, the New York Yankees in Game 7 of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series, blowing a three-run, eighth-inning lead.
- October 23 - Luis A. Ferre, the third Democratically Elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 99.
- October 24 - Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic travel to a close, at least for the time being.
- October 25 - The Florida Marlins defeat the New York Yankees 4 games to 2 to win the 2003 World Series, behind a complete-game shutout by ace pitcher, Josh Beckett.
- October 25 - Cedar Fire begins in San Diego County burning 280,000 acres (1,100 km²), 2,232 homes and killing 14
- October 31 - Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power.

November

- November 5 - Gary Ridgway, The "Green River Killer", confesses murders of 48 women
- November 9 - Lunar eclipse (the Americas, Europe, Africa, Central Asia)
- November 12 - Occupation of Iraq: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties o