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Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, also known as the Air Capital, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, as well as a major aircraft manufacturing hub and cultural center. It is located in South Central Kansas, and is the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2003 Census, the city had a total population of 360,715. The Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, and Sumner counties, has a 2003 population of 582,781 persons residing in 245,159 households.

Geography

2003 Wichita is located at 37°41'20" North, 97°20'10" West (37.688848, -97.336226). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 138.9 mi² (359.8 km²). 135.8 mi² (351.6 km²) of it is land and 3.2 mi² (8.2 km²) of it is water. The total area is 2.29% water. The city was founded at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers. The Arkansas river runs on to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where it becomes navigable by large boats. Wichita is the only major city near the geographical center of the United States.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 344,284 people, 139,087 households, and 87,763 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,536.1/mi² (979.2/km²). There are 152,119 housing units at an average density of 1,120.6/mi² (432.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 75.20% White, 11.42% African American, 1.16% Native American, 3.96% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 5.10% from other races, and 3.10% from two or more races. 9.62% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 139,087 households out of which 32.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% are married couples living together, 11.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% are non-families. 31.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.44 and the average family size is 3.10. In the city the population is spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 94.6 males. The median income for a household in the city is $39,939, and the median income for a family is $49,247. Males have a median income of $36,457 versus $25,844 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,647. 11.2% of the population and 8.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 14.4% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Transportation

Most residents of Wichita travel around the region by car. The Kansas Turnpike (Interstate 35), Interstates 135 and 235, and U.S. Highway 400/54 run through and near the city. The Wichita Transit Authority operates 18 fixed bus routes within the city. The nearest Amtrak station is in Newton (20 miles/32 km to the north), offering service on the Southwest Chief route between Los Angeles and Chicago. Wichita is home to Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, the largest airport in the state of Kansas (the larger Kansas City International Airport is located in Missouri). Flights from Wichita's airport travel to many U.S. airport hubs via 13 commercial carriers.

Culture

The City of Wichita is home to Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, which boasts 24 themed gardens including the popular Butterfly Garden and the award-winning Sally Stone Sensory Garden. Sedgwick County Extension Arboretum is also located in the city. Wichita is also home to the [http://www.wichitafestivals.com/ Wichita River Festival], held each May in the Downtown and Old Town areas of the city. It is one of the longest continuous running festivals in the state of Kansas and features over 70 events, including musical entertainment, sporting events, traveling exhibits, cultural and historical activities, plays, interactive children's events, a flea market, river events, a parade, block party, food court, fireworks and souvenirs for the roughly 160,000 patrons who attend each year. Other major attractions of the city include the [http://www.scz.org/ Sedgwick County Zoo], home to more than 2,500 animals of nearly 500 different species; the [http://oldcowtown.org/ Old Cowtown Museum]; McConnell Air Force Base; [http://www.exploration.org Exploration Place], a science and discovery center for all ages; the [http://www.oldtownwichita.com/ Old Town] historical and entertainment district; the Mid-America All-Indian Center and Museum; and the [http://www.wichitaartmuseum.org/ Wichita Art Museum]. Other museums and attractions around the city:
- The Bank Of America Gallery, Wichita
- [http://www.castleinnriverside.com/ Campbell Castle], Wichita
- Coleman Factory Outlet Store and Museum, Wichita
- [http://www.crownuptown.com/ Crown Uptown Professional Dinner Theatre], Wichita
- [http://home.onemain.com/~allenlam/ Frank Lloyd Wright Allen Lambe House], Wichita
- Gallery XII, Wichita
- [http://www.gpnc.org/ Great Plains Nature Center], Wichita
- [http://www.gptm.us/ Great Plains Transportation Museum], Wichita
- [http://www.thekansasafricanamericanmuseum.org/index/frame.htm Kansas African-American Museum], Wichita
- [http://kansasaviationmuseum.org/ Kansas Aviation Museum], Wichita
- Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson
- [http://members.cox.net/ksfm/ Kansas Firefighters Museum], Wichita
- Kansas Oil Museum, El Dorado
- [http://www.kshof.org/ Kansas Sports Hall of Fame], Wichita
- [http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/ Kansas Underground Salt Museum], Hutchinson
- Kansas Wildlife Exhibit at Riverside Park, Wichita
- Karg Art Glass, Wichita
- Kauffman Museum, Bethel College, North Newton
- McPherson Museum Historic Vaniman Mansion, McPherson
- Mid-America All-Indian Center and Keeper Of The Plains statue, Wichita
- [http://www.worldtreasures.org/ Museum of World Treasures], Wichita
- [http://prairierosechuckwagon.com/ Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper], Benton
- [http://www.renocomuseum.org/ Reno County Museum], Hutchinson
- [http://webs.wichita.edu/?u=ulrich Ulrich Museum of Art] at Wichita State University, Wichita
- Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita
- Wichita Jazz Festival, Wichita
- [http://www.wichitahistory.org/ Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum], Wichita
- [http://www.wso.org/ Wichita Symphony Orchestra], Wichita

History

A thorough writeup can be found at [http://www.wichita.gov/Residents/History/ City of Wichita-History]. The site on the two rivers has served as a trading center for nomadic peoples for the last 11,000 years. The area was visited by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541, while he was in search of the fabulous "cities of gold." While there, he encountered a group of Indians whom he called Quiviras and who have been identified by archeological and historical studies as Wichita Indians. By 1719 this people had moved south to Oklahoma, where they met French traders. The first permanent settlement in Wichita was a collection of grass houses inhabited by the Wichita Indians in 1863. They had moved back to Wichita from Oklahoma during the Civil War due to their pro-Union sentiments. The city was officially incorporated in 1870. Shortly thereafter it became a railhead destination for cattle drives from Texas and other southwestern points, from whence it has derived its nickname of "Cowtown." Wichita reached national fame in 1900 when Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) member Carrie Nation decided to carry her crusade against alcohol to Wichita. On December 27th of that year she entered the Carey House bar in downtown Wichita and smashed the place with a rock and a pool ball. She had visited all the bars in Wichita the night before and demanded that they close their doors. However, the painting by John Noble of Cleopatra at the Roman Bath in the Carey House had drawn her particular wrath. In 1914-1915, oil was discovered nearby and Wichita became a major oil center. The oil money, in turn, allowed local entrepreneurs to invest in a nascent airplane industry in the 1920's. Forty-three Swallow airplanes were built in Wichita between 1920 and 1923. This was the first airplane made specifically for production. Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech were employees of the Swallow company. In January 1925, Stearman and Beech left Swallow Aircraft and teamed up with Clyde Cessna to form Travel Air. Lloyd Stearman left the company in 1926 to start Stearman Aircraft in Venice California. Cessna quit in January 1927 to start Cessna Aircraft. Stearman would only be gone from Wichita for a year before returning. Travel Air with Walter Beech at the helm grew to the point of employing over 600 workers and working in a huge factory complex constructed from 1927 to 1929. Employing so many workers at such a large complex and being a few miles outside the city limits it was tagged "Travel Air City" by Wichita residents. The company merged with the huge Curtis Wright Corporation in the Roaring Twenties' heyday of company buyouts and takeovers just two months before the Stock Market crash in 1929. Workers were laid off by the hundreds during 1930 and more so in 1931. Those that retained jobs were moved to the Curtis Wright plant in St. Louis in 1931 to lower operating costs. By the fall of 1932 the final workers were let go in Wichita, equipment was sold and the entire Travel Air plant sat empty. Walter Beech held a desk job in New York instead of walking the factory floors and was not happy in this new position. In March 1932 Walter quit Curtis Wright to form Beech Aircraft with his wife Olive Ann and hired Ted Wells as his chief engineer. The first four or five "Beechcraft" were built in the vacant Cessna Aircraft plant which was also closed during the depression. Beech later leased and then bought the Travel Air plant from Curtis Wright and men, machinery, and an airplane or two were moved from the Cessna plant. The first aircraft was the beautiful Model 17, later dubbed the "Staggerwing" which was first flown on November 5, 1932. The aircraft that would propel the small company into a huge corporation was the Model 18 "Twin Beech," of which thousands were built from 1937 to 1969. The Staggerwing production ended in 1946 with approximately 750 built and a few more assembled from parts in 1947. There are still nearly 100 Staggerwings in existence, most in useable condition. The demise of the Staggerwing production can easily be traced to one aircraft, the Beech Bonanza. The city experienced a population explosion during World War II when it became a major manufacturing center for airplanes needed in the war effort. By 1945, 4.2 bombers were being produced daily in Wichita. Stearman Aircraft, a predecessor of the Boeing Company, was founded in Wichita, as were Beech Aircraft (now part of Raytheon), Cessna Aircraft, and LearJet (now Bombardier). The city remains a major manufacturing center for the aircraft industry today, with all of these and Airbus still having major centers there, hence its nickname: "The Air Capital." It was also a significant entrepreneurial business center during the postwar period, with Coleman, Mentholatum, Pizza Hut, White Castle, and Koch Industries having all been founded in Wichita. Ironically, White Castle closed all of their restaurants in Wichita in 1938 and has not operated in the state of Kansas after a failed revival attempt in the Kansas City area in the early 1990s. The first complete recording made by the famous jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker occurred in 1940 at the Trocadero Ballroom in Wichita. During the 1950s and early 1960s Wichita had a significant "Beat" movement [http://homepage.mac.com/thorntonstreiff/Menu9.html]. The Wichita Jazz Festival remains a significant annual event on the jazz calendar to this day. On January 15, 1974, four members of the same Wichita family were found murdered in their home; this was followed by a fifth murder later that same year (on August 4) and two more in 1977 (on March 17 and December 8). All seven murders are now known to have been committed by the same person. On September 16, 1986 still another murder, thought to be similar in character to the first seven, was committed. From a series of cryptic letters sent both to police and local television stations, the unknown serial murderer became known as "BTK," which stood for "Bind, Torture, Kill," his modus operandi. More anonymous letters arrived in 2004 and early 2005. At that time, these killings began attracting nationwide publicity, most notably being featured on two different episodes of the television show America's Most Wanted. On February 26, 2005, during a nationally-televised news conference, Wichita Police announced the capture of Dennis Rader the previous day as a suspect in the BTK killings — and also linking him to two additional murders, one having been committed in 1985, the other in 1991. The murder committed in 1985 is especially disturbing given that the victim lived on the same block as Rader, and yet it took nearly 20 years and at least one additional murder for the suspect to be detained. In June of 2005, Rader confessed to being the "BTK" murderer and to having committed all ten BTK murders. An informative collection of historical photographs of Wichita can be found at [http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/wdl/search.asp].

Sister cities


- Cancun, Mexico - 25 November 1975
- Kaifeng, China - 3 December 1985
- Katmandu, Nepal - 15 June 2005
- Orleans, France - 16 August 1944 through Sister Cities International
- Tlalnepantla, Mexico - 16 October 1973

Metro cities


- Andale
- Andover
- Arkansas City
- Augusta
- Bel Aire
- Belle Plaine
- Bentley
- Benton
- Burrton
- Cassoday
- Cheney
- Clearwater
- Colwich
- Conway Springs
- Derby
- El Dorado
- Eureka
- Garden Plain
- Goddard
- Harper
- Haven
- Haysville
- Hesston
- Hutchinson
- Kechi
- Kingman
- Maize
- McPherson
- Moundridge
- Mount Hope
- Mulvane
- Newton
- North Newton
- Norwich
- Park City
- Peabody
- Peck
- Pretty Prairie
- Rock
- Rose Hill
- Sedgwick
- Towanda
- Udall
- Valley Center
- Wellington
- Winfield
- Yoder

Colleges and universities


- Wichita State University
- Friends University
- Newman University
- Wichita Area Technical College
- Wichita Technical Institute
- Butler Community College (formerly Butler County Community College)

Sports teams


- Wichita Wranglers, baseball
- Wichita Wings (defunct), indoor soccer
- Wichita Thunder, ice hockey
- Wichita Aviators, indoor football

Notable natives


- Kirstie Alley, actress
- Robert Ballard, marine geologist
- Judy Bell, golfer
- Antoine Carr, basketball star
- Clyde Cessna, industrialist
- Robert M. Gates, former Director U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
- Dan Glickman, former US Congressman, Secretary of Agriculture, and current President of the Motion Picture Association of America
- Bob Helms, industrialist
- Stan Kenton, jazz musician
- Bill Koch, America's Cup winner
- Charles Koch, industrialist
- Don Johnson, actor
- William Lear, industrialist
- Jim Lehrer, TV host
- Hattie McDaniel, actress
- Vera Miles, actress
- Roger Noriega, Ambassador to the Organization of American States
- Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior
- Susan Page, journalist
- Jeff Probst, TV host
- Dennis Rader, the BTK Strangler
- Jim Ryun, Olympic medalist, now a U.S. Representative from Kansas
- Barry Sanders, Pro Football Hall of Famer
- Gale Sayers, Pro Football Hall of Famer; born in Wichita, but raised in Omaha, Nebraska
- Vernon L. Smith, Nobel Memorial Prize winner
- Leon van Speybroeck, X-Ray astronomer
- Lloyd Stearman, industrialist
- Deb Stover, author
- John Cameron Swayze, announcer
- Darnell Valentine, basketball star
- Joe Walsh, musician
- Lynette Woodard, Basketball Hall of Famer

External links


- [http://www.wichitagov.org/ The Official City of Wichita homepage] Category:All-America City Category:Cities in Kansas Category:Sedgwick County, Kansas ja:ウィチタ

Kansas

Kansas, derived from the Siouan word Kansa meaning "People of the south wind," is a Midwestern state in the United States. The U.S. postal abbreviation for the state is KS.

History

Main article: History of Kansas Kansas, as part of the Louisiana Purchase, was annexed to the United States in 1803 as unorganized territory. Kansas then became part of the Missouri Territory until 1821. The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854 and established the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas. Fort Leavenworth was the first community in the area around 1827. To travelers en route to Utah, California, or Oregon, Kansas was a waystop and outfitting place. On March 30, 1855 "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invaded Kansas during the territory's first election and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature. Kansas entered the Union as a Free State on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to enter the Union. Civil War veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas following the war. On February 19, 1861 it became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages. On August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led Quantrill's Raid into Lawrence destroying much of the city and killing hundreds of people. Wild Bill Hickok was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley and a marshal at Hays and Abilene. Kansas has been home to President Eisenhower, presidential candidates Bob Dole and Alf Landon, Amelia Earhart, and Carrie Nation. Famous athletes from Kansas include Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Ryun, Walter Johnson, Maurice Greene, and Lynette Woodard. Despite its agricultural reputation, Kansas is the home of Walter Chrysler of automotive fame, Clyde Cessna (aviation) and Jack St. Kirby (mircochip inventor) and George Washington Carver (educator/African American pioneer)

Law and government

The state capital is Topeka. The top executives of the state are Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Lieutenant Governor John E. Moore. Both are elected on the same ticket to a maximum of two consecutive 4-year terms. Their current term will end in January of 2007, and they are able to run for re-election in 2006. The current Attorney General is Phill Kline; his office is also up for re-election in November of 2006. The state's current delegation to the Congress of the United States includes Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts and Representatives Jerry Moran (District 1), Jim Ryun (District 2), Dennis Moore (District 3), and Todd Tiahrt (District 4). Moore is the only Democrat in the delegation; all others are Republicans. Kansas had a reputation as a progressive state with many firsts in legislative initiatives—it was the first state to institute a system of workers compensation (1910). Kansas was also one of the first states to permit women's suffrage in 1912. Suffrage in all states would not be guaranteed until ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. The council-manager government was adopted by many larger Kansas cities in the years following World War I while many American cities were being run by political machines or organized crime. Kansas was first among the states to ban the concept of separate but equal schools. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka banned racially segregated schools throughout the U.S. Since the 1960s, Kansas has grown more socially conservative. The 1990s brought new restrictions on abortion, the defeat of prominent Democrats, including Dan Glickman, and the Kansas State Board of Education's infamous 1999 decision to eliminate the theory of evolution from the state teaching standards, a decision that was later reversed. In 2005, voters accepted a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and the Kansas State Board of Education resumed hearings to determine if evolution should once again be removed from state science standards. On November 8, 2005, a 6-4 majority voted in favor of intelligent design. [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-evolution9nov09,0,416642.story?coll=la-home-nation] Kansas has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state's 6 electoral votes by an overwhelming margin of 25 percentage points with 62% of the vote. The only two counties to support Democrat John Kerry were those containing the city of Kansas City and the college town of Lawrence. See also: List of Governors of Kansas; U.S. Congressional Delegations from Kansas

Geography

U.S. Congressional Delegations from Kansas Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north, Missouri on the east, Oklahoma on the south, and Colorado on the west. It is located equidistant from the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The geodetic center of North America is located in Osborne County. This spot is used as the central reference point for all maps produced by the government. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon, Kansas, and the geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County. The state is divided up into 105 counties with 628 cities. Kansas is one of the six states located on the Frontier Strip.

Topography

The state, lying in the great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface. Its altitude above the sea ranges from 750 feet at the mouth of the Kansas River to 4000 feet on the western border. (Mount Sunflower is the highest point.) The rivers flow through bottomlands, varying from ¼ to 6 miles in width, and bounded by bluffs, rising 50 to 300 feet. The Missouri River forms nearly 75 miles of the state's northeastern boundary. The Kansas River, formed by the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, joins the Missouri at Kansas City, after a course of 150 miles across the state. The Arkansas River, rising in Colorado, flows with a tortuous course for nearly 500 miles across three-fourths of the state. It forms, with its tributaries, the Little Arkansas, Walnut, Cow Creek, Cimarron, Verdigris (which is the lowest point in Kansas at 680 feet), and the Neosho, the southern drainage system of the state. Other important rivers are the Saline and Solomon, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; the Big Blue, Delaware, and Wakarusa, which flow into the Kansas River; and the Marais des Cygnes, a tributary of the Missouri River.

Landmarks


- The disputed World's Largest Ball of Twine created August 15, 1953, in Cawker City, Kansas, is still growing.
- Big Brutus, the World's second largest Electric Shovel resides in West Mineral, Kansas. It is 160 feet (49 m) tall and weighs 11 million pounds (5000 t).
- S.P. Dinsmoor created the Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas in 1905, and opened it up to tourists in 1908. The garden features sculptures of biblical scenes and political messages. One scene has labor being crucified by a doctor, lawyer, banker, and preacher. Dinsmoor even built his own mausoleum in which you can still see him today in his concrete coffin by paying for the tour. [http://www.missioncreep.com/tilt/dinsmoor.html]
- Lucas, Kansas is also home to the Grassroots Art Center [http://home.comcast.net/~ymirymir/index2.htm]. The museum features many works of art created by people with no formal training, and it sits only a block or two from the Garden of Eden.
- The John Brown museum is located in Osawatomie, Kansas.
- Monroe Elementary, the school Linda Brown attended when the historic case Brown v. Board of Education was filed, is now a National Historic site in Topeka, Kansas.
- The Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant in De Soto, Kansas opened in 1942 to manufacture gunpowder and munitions propellants for World War II. The closed plant sits on over 9000 acres (36 km²) of land which was made up of more than 100 farms.
- The boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Eisenhower Library, and his grave are located in Abilene, Kansas. The Greyhound Hall of Fame is located in Abilene. Abilene, Kansas is also the ending point of the Chisholm Trail where the cattle driven from Texas were rail loaded.
- The house of Carrie Nation, now a museum, is located in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
- Constitution Hall in Lecompton, Kansas is the location where the Kansas Territorial Government convened and drafted a pro-slavery constitution. ([http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/index.php?doc=consthall.php website])
- The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics houses the largest collection of papers for a politician other than a president. The institute is located in Lawrence, Kansas on the campus of the University of Kansas. ([http://www.doleinstitute.org website])
- The Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas features Old West memorabilia and history.
- The Wizard of Oz Museum in Liberal, Kansas features Dorothy's House, a recreation of the farm house featured in the film The Wizard of Oz.
- The National Teachers Hall of Fame is located in Emporia, Kansas.
- The National Agriculture Center and Hall of Fame is located in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
- The Horace Greeley museum is located in Tribune, Kansas.
- The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, located in Hutchinson, Kansas is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute. The museum features the largest collection of artifacts from the Russian Space Program outside of Moscow. It is also home to Apollo 13, an SR-71 Blackbird, and many other space artifacts.
- The Boyer Gallery, a collection of animated sculptures made by Paul Boyer is located in Belleville, Kansas.
- The fifth largest collection of civilian and military aircraft in the United States is located at the Mid-America Air Museum.
- The Big Well, the world's largest hand dug well, is in Greensburg, Kansas.
- The Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, features exhibits of several fossils discovered by Charles Hazelius Sternberg as well as various temporary exhibits ([http://www.fhsu.edu/sternberg/]).
- Big Basin and Little Basin, two large sinkholes in Clark County.
- Arikaree Breaks, badlands in Cheyenne County.
- The Cimarron National Grassland, Kansas's largest tract of public land in Morton County.
- Monument Rocks (Kansas), a series of chalk arcs and other formations. Kansas also has many other formations of this nature.

Major highways

The state is served by two interstate highways with six spur routes. I-70 is a major east/west route connecting to St. Louis, Missouri, in the east and Denver, Colorado, in the west. Cities along this route (from east to west) include Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka, Junction City, Salina, Hays, and Colby. I-35 is a major north/south route connecting to Des Moines, Iowa, in the north and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the south. Cities along this route (from north to south) include Kansas City (and its suburbs), Ottawa, Emporia, El Dorado, and Wichita. Spur routes serve as connections between the two major routes. I-135, a north/south route, connects I-70 at Salina to I-35 at Wichita. I-335, a northeast/southwest route, connects I-70 at Topeka to I-35 at Emporia. I-335 and portions of I-35 and I-70 make up the Kansas Turnpike. I-435 and I-635 serve a dual purpose as connections between the major routes and bypasses around the Kansas City metropolitan area. Other bypasses are I-235 around Wichita and I-470 around Topeka. In January 2004, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced the new Kansas 511 traveler information service.[http://www.ksdot.org/offtransinfo/News04/511_Release.htm] By calling 511, callers will get access to information about road conditions, construction, closures, detours and weather conditions for the state highway system. Weather and road condition information is updated every 15 minutes. See also: [http://www.kanroad.org KDOT road condition information]

Economy

The 2003 total gross state product of Kansas was $93 billion, an increase of 4.3% over the prior year, but trailing the national average increase of 4.8%. Its per-capita income was $29,438. The December 2003 unemployment rate was 4.9%. The agricultural outputs of the state are cattle, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, hogs and corn. The industrial outputs are transportation equipment, commercial and private aircraft, food processing, publishing, chemical products, machinery, apparel, petroleum and mining. Kansas ranks 8th in oil production, behind only Texas, Alaska, California, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. Production has experienced a steady, natural decline as it becomes increasingly difficult to extract oil over time. Since oil prices bottomed in 1999 oil production has remained fairly constant, with an average monthly rate of about 2.8 million barrels in 2004. The recent higher prices have made carbon dioxide sequestration and other oil recovery techniques more economical. Kansas ranks 8th in natural gas production, behind only Texas, Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. Production has steadily declined since the mid-1990’s with the depletion of the Hugoton natural gas field—the state's largest field which extends into Oklahoma and Texas. In 2004 slower declines in the Hugoton gas fields and increased coalbed methane production contributed to a smaller overall decline. Average monthly production was over 32 billion cubic feet (0.9 km³). The state sales tax rate has increased twice since January 1990—first from 4.25% to 4.9% in June 1992, and most recently to 5.3% in July 2002. Except during the 2001 recession (March–November 2001) when monthly sales tax collections were flat, collections have trended higher as the economy has grown and the two rate increases have been enacted. Total sales tax collections for 2003 amounted to $1.63 billion, compared to $805.3 million in 1990. Major employers in Kansas include the Sprint Nextel Corporation (with operational headquarters in Overland Park), Raytheon (mostly in Wichita), Hallmark (Topeka, Lawrence & Kansas City), Goodyear (Topeka), Payless Shoes (National headquarters and major distribution facilities in Topeka), Koch Industries (Wichita), Department of Defense (Ft.Riley/Junction City and Fort Leavenworth) and Boeing.

Demographics

As of 2004, the population of Kansas was 2,735,502. This includes 149,800 foreign-born (5.5% of the state population), and an estimated 47,000 illegal aliens (1.7% of state population). The increase in population was only 0.4% from the prior year. Only eight states and the District of Columbia have slower growth rates. Between 1990 and 2004, the state grew by 246,000, a 9% increase.

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census: The largest reported ancestries in the state are: German (25.9%), Irish (11.5%), English (10.8%), American (8.8%), French (3.1%), and Swedish (2.4%). 'American' includes those reported as Native American or African American. Americans of British ancestry are common throughout Kansas, as are German-Americans. People of German ancestry are especially strong in the northwest, people of British ancestry and descendents of white Americans from other states are especially strong in the southeast. Mexicans are present in parts of the southwest. Kansas City and Junction City are predominantly black. Many African Americans in Kansas are descended from the "Exodusters", newly freed blacks who fled the South for land in Kansas following the Civil War.

Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of Kansas are as follows:
- Christian – 82%
  - Protestant – 60%
    - Methodist – 14%
    - Baptist – 14%
    - Lutheran – 4%
    - Presbyterian – 3%
    - Church of Christ – 3%
    - Mennonite/Pietist – 1%
    - Other Protestant – 21%
  - Roman Catholic – 20%
  - Other Christian – 2%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 17%

"Rural flight"

Kansas, as well as five other Midwest states (Nebraska, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota and Iowa), is feeling the brunt of falling populations. 89% of the total number of cities in those states have fewer than 3000 people; hundreds have fewer than than 1000. Between 1996 and 2004, almost half a million people, nearly half with college degrees, left the six states. "Rural flight" as it is called has led to offers of free land and tax breaks as enticements to newcomers.

Major cities and towns

See also: List of cities in Kansas

Education

Education in Kansas is governed primarily by the Kansas State Board of Education. On August 9, 2005, the Board approved a draft of science curriculum standards that mandated equal time for the theories of "evolution" and "intelligent design" This echoes a previous decision in Kansas. In 1999, the Board ruled that instruction about evolution, the age of the earth, and the origin of the universe was permitted, but not mandatory, and that those topics would not appear on state standardized tests. However, the Board reversed this decision February 14th, 2001, ruling that instruction of all those topics was mandatory and that they would appear on standardized tests.

Professional sports teams


- Kansas City T-Bones, Wichita Wranglers, Wichita Thunder, Topeka Tarantulas, Wichita Wings (defunct).
- Although there are no major professional sports league teams within Kansas itself, many Kansans support the sports teams of Kansas City, Missouri, including the Kansas City Royals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Kansas City Wizards.

See also


- List of Kansas-related topics

External links


- [http://www.kansas.gov/ Kansas.gov: the official website for the State of Kansas]
- [http://www.kansashistoryonline.org/ksh/ Kansas History Online]
- [http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/ Cutler's History of Kansas]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/kansas.html Kansas Maps]
- [http://www.ksdot.org/maps/main.html Kansas Department of Transportation maps]
- [http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/ks/ks.html Kansas weather]
- [http://www.webcambiglook.com/ks.html Kansas webcam directory]
- [http://www.ocs.orst.edu/pub/maps/Precipitation/Total/States/KS/ks.gif Map of average annual precipitation] at Oregon State University
- [http://obit.obitlinkspage.com/ks.htm Kansas Obituary Links Page]
- [http://www.genealogybuff.com/ks/ GenealogyBuff.com - Kansas Library of Files]
- [http://www.kansasheritage.org/ Kansas Heritage the first Kansas history on the web]

Criticism


- [http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/goodbye_kansas/ Goodbye, Kansas]

References


- Kansas, Inc. (April 2005) [http://www.kansasinc.org/pubs/working/IKE2004DataBook.pdf Indicators of the Kansas Economy] . Kansas economic information.
- Kansas Board of Regents. [http://www.kansasregents.org/download/news/fall04enrolltable.pdf "Enrollment Headcount at Kansas State Universities—Fall 2004"] .
- U.S. Census Bureau.
  - [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/20000.html Kansas QuickFacts]. Geographic and demographic information.
  - [http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0056/tab31.pdf Kansas - Race and Hispanic Origin: 1860 to 1990]
- Category:States of the American West Category:States of the United States ko:캔자스 주 ja:カンザス州

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center for a county. In the U.S. New England states and the Canadian Maritime Provinces, the term "shire town" is also used, but officially so only in Vermont. In England, Wales and Ireland, the term county town is used. This term is probably still used colloquially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but today neither are divided into counties - instead being divided, respectively, into regions and districts. Counties are called "parishes" in Louisiana and Alaska is divided into "boroughs" (here, meaning a very large district or region of the state). Their seats of county government are called "parish seat" and "borough seat," respectively. The Canadian province of Ontario, in addition to counties, also has territorial districts, regional muncipalities, and at least one metropolitan municipality, which are effectively different types of counties in that they perform county government functions. In America as in England and Canada, a county is an administrative division of a state which has no sovereign jurisdiction of its own, so it would not be correct to say that a county seat is equivalent to a capital city since it's just an administrative centre. (See also the article, Counties of the United States.) Counties administer state or provincial law at the local level as part of the decentralisation of state/provincial authority. In many U.S. states, state government is further decentralised by dividing counties into townships, to provide local government services to residents of the county who do not live in incorporated cities or towns. A county seat is often, but not always, an incorporated municipality. The county courthouse and county administration are usually located in the county seat, but some functions may also be conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large. Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Mississippi have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of the county. An example is Harrison County, Mississippi, which lists both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats. The practice of multiple county towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement since a county seat is a source of pride (and jobs) for the towns involved. In Virginia, all cities are independent cities, which are legally distinct from the counties that surround them. An independent city interacts with the commonwealth (state) government directly whereas villages and other local government authorities do so through the county government apparatus. However, many of Virginia's independent cities act as the county seat for their neighbouring counties. For example, the City of Fairfax is separate from Fairfax County, but is still the county's seat. Uniquely, because it was formerly part of the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Virginia, which is the smallest county in the United States, has no county seat - because it has no muncipalities within its boundaries. Prior to their retrocession to Virginia during the nineteenth century, Arlington and the neighboring independent city of Arlington were, respectively, Arlington County and Alexandria County - two of the three counties of the District of Columbia. The District as currently drawn was coextensive with the County of Washington, which disappeared in the twentieth century following the amalgamation of Tenley, Anacostia and the other rural and semi-rural towns and villages of Washington County, D.C., to the City of Washington.

References

Category:Capitals Category:U.S. counties ja:郡庁所在地

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 of the 2003 Iraq war are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.
- November 15 - Two car bombs explode simultaneously in Istanbul, Turkey targeting two synagogues, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 300; Al-Qaida claims responsibility.
- November 18 - US President George W. Bush makes a state visit to London in the midst of massive protests.
- November 18 - Goodridge v. Department of Public Health rules anti-same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional in Massachusetts
- November 20 - Several bombs explode in Istanbul, Turkey destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Holdings and the British consulate.
- November 20 - Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation, a charge that can carry an 8 year jail term.
- November 22 - England wins the Rugby Union World Cup defeating Australia 20-17 after extra time.
- November 23 - Georgian Rose Revolution ends with overwhelming victory - president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over fraudulent elections.
- November 23 - Total solar eclipse (Antarctica)
- November 24 - The High Court in Glasgow imposes a minimum sentence of 27 years for Al Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

December

December
- December 1 - The use of hand-held mobile phones while driving is made illegal in the United Kingdom.
- 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 5 - Suicide bombing on commuter train in southern Russia kills 44 people. President Vladimir Putin condemns attack as bid to destabilize the country two days before parliamentary elections.
- December 7 - Parliamentary election in Russia.
- December 9 - Female suicide bomber blows herself up outside Moscow's National Hotel, across from the Kremlin and Red Square, killing five bystanders.
- December 12 - Paul Martin becomes the 21st Prime Minister of Canada
- December 12 - Olympic Airlines, Greece's new flag carrier is launched.
- December 13 - Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, is captured in Tikrit by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
- December 16 - The United Kingdom announces plans to build a new runway at Stansted Airport in Essex and a short-haul runway at Heathrow Airport sparking anger from environmental groups.
- December 17 - The film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King released, effectively completing the Lord of the Rings Trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.
- December 18 - The Soham Murder Trial ends at the Old Bailey in London with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend, Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
- December 20 - Libya admits that it was building a nuclear bomb.
- December 22 - An earthquake shakes up California, killing two people.
- December 22 - Parmalat is first accused of falsifying accounts to the tune of USD $5 billion, later admitted by founder Calisto Tanzi; observers call it "Europe's Enron".
- December 24 - A BSE outbreak in Washington State is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia and Taiwan place a ban on the import of beef from the United States of America.
- December 24 - At the request of the US Embassy in Paris, the French Government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the US in response to terrorist concerns.
- December 24 - The Spanish police thwarts an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 PM on Christmas Eve inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
- December 25 - Queen Elizabeth II broadcasts a Christmas message to the British Commonwealth paying tribute to British troops in Iraq. Pope John Paul II's Christmas message calls for peace in the Middle East.
- December 25 - Beagle 2 is scheduled to land on Mars, but nothing is heard from the lander.
- December 25 - The President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, escapes the second assassination attempt in two weeks.
- December 26 - A massive earthquake devastates southeastern Iran. Over 40,000 people are reported to have been killed in the city of Bam.
- December 31 - The world's largest Hogmanay party in the Scottish capital Edinburgh is cancelled twenty minutes before midnight due to bad weather.

Births


- April 29 - Maud Angelica Behn, daughter of Ari Behn and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway
- August 24 - Alexandre Coste, son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
- November 8 - Lady Louise Windsor, daughter of Earl and Countess of Wessex
- December 7 - Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, daughter of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands

Deaths

For more deaths, see: Deaths in 2003

January


- January 3 - Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
- January 4 - Conrad Hall, Tahitian-born cinematographer (b. 1926)
- January 4 - Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)
- January 8 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (b. 1925)
- January 11 - Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (b. 1925)
- January 11 - Richard Simmons, American actor (b. 1913)
- January 12 - Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator (b. 1926)
- January 12 - Maurice Gibb, Australian musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)
- January 15 - Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- January 17 - Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926)
- January 20 - Al Hirschfeld, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
- January 23 - Nell Carter, American singer and actress (b. 1948)
- January 24 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)
- January 26 - Valeriy Brumel, Russian athlete (b. 1942)
- January 26 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (b. 1917)
- January 29 - Frank Moss, U.S. Senator from Utah (b. 1911)

February


- February 1 - Crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia
  - Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959)
  - David M. Brown (b. 1956)
  - Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)
  - Laurel Clark (b. 1961)
  - Rick Husband (b. 1957)
  - William McCool (b. 1961)
  - Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)
- February 2 - Lou Harrison, American composer (b. 1917)
- February 10 - Edgar de Evia, American photographer (b. 1910)
- February 10 - Ron Ziegler,