Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Carole Hillard (Republican) (until January 7), Dennis Daugaard (Republican) (starting January 7)
Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John S. Wilder (Democratic)
Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Bill Ratliff (Republican) (until January 21), David Dewhurst (Republican) (starting January 21)
Lieutenant Governor of Utah: Olene S. Walker (Republican) (until November 5), Gayle McKeachnie (Republican) (starting November 5)
Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Doug Racine (Democratic) (until January 9), Brian Dubie (Republican) (starting January 9)
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Tim Kaine (Democratic)
Lieutenant Governor of Washington: Brad Owen (Democratic)
Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Margaret A. Farrow (Republican) (until January 6), Barbara Lawton (Democratic) (starting January 6)
Events[]
January[]
January – Sky marshals are introduced on U.S. airlines in an attempt to prevent hijackings.[2]
January 3
The 108th United States Congress is sworn in, including incoming freshmen Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Sununu (R-NH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Norm Coleman (R-MN), and Mark Pryor (D-AR).
The Ohio State University defeats the University of Miami in double-overtime in the Fiesta Bowl, 31–24, for the national Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title.
January 8 – US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people aboard.
January 15 – Eldred v. Ashcroft: The Supreme Court of the United States allows the extension of copyright terms in the U.S.
January 16 – STS-107: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on what turns out to be its last flight.
January 23 – The last signal is received from NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft, some 7.5 billion miles from Earth.
January 24 – The newly created United States Department of Homeland Security begins operation.
January 25 – An international group of volunteers leaves London for Baghdad to act as voluntary human shields, hoping to avert a U.S. invasion.
January 26 – Super Bowl XXXVII: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders 48–21.
January 30 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain release a statement (The Letter of the Eight) demonstrating support for the United States' plans to invade Iraq.
February[]
February 1: Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed on re-entry
February 1 – STS-107: Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon re-entry, killing all seven astronauts on board.[2]
February 3 – John W. Snow is sworn in as the new Secretary of Treasury, succeeding Paul O'Neill.[citation needed]
February 4 – 4-year-old Sofia Juarez disappears in Kennewick, Washington.[3]
February 5 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.
February 7 – An unsuccessful attempt is made to contact Pioneer 10.
February 20 – The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island claims the lives of 100 people.
February 27 – Fred Rogers, host of the children's television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood, dies of stomach cancer at the age of 74.
March[]
March 1
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
The Turkish parliament vetoes U.S. troop access to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on Plan B, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf.
March 5 – Lockyer v. Andrade, Ewing v. California: In two separate opinions, the Supreme Court of the United States, by 5–4 margins, upholds California's "three strikes" law.
March 11 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi fighters threaten two U.S. U-2 surveillance planes, on missions for U.N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base.
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 March 17 the "moment of truth", meaning that the "coalition of the willing" will make its final effort to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council, giving Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or 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 18
FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama, on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.
About $1 billion is taken from Iraq's Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States begins bombing Iraq.[4]
March 19 – The first American bombs drop on Baghdad after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not comply with U.S. President George W. Bush's 48-hour mandate demanding their exit from Iraq.
Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier with the 101st Airborne, kills two fellow soldiers in a grenade attack at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.
The 75th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Steve Martin, is held at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Rob Marshall's Chicago wins six awards out of 13 nominations, including Best Picture (the first musical to win the award since 1968's Oliver!). Roman Polanski wins Best Director for The Pianist, though he does not attend due to a long-standing arrest warrant. The telecast garners over 33 million viewers, making it the least-watched and lowest-rated televised Oscar ceremony so far.
March 30 – Meigs Field Airport in Chicago, Illinois, is demolished overnight.
April[]
April 9: M1A1 Abrams pose for a photo under the "Hands of Victory" in Ceremony Square, Baghdad, Iraq.
April 3 – U.S. forces seize control of Saddam International Airport, changing the airport's name to Baghdad International Airport.
April 3–12 – Iraq War: US forces defeat the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Battle of Baghdad.
April 9 – Iraq War: U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.
April 13
Iraq War: Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit falls to U.S. forces.
President George W. Bush accuses Syria of possessing chemical weapons.[2]
April 21 – Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.
April 29 – Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld confirms that U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Saudi Arabia where they have been stationed since the 1991 Gulf War.[2]
May[]
May 1: President George W. Bush's Mission Accomplished Speech
May 1 – U.S. president George W. Bush lands on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, where he gives a speech announcing the end of major combat in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.[2] A banner behind him declares "Mission Accomplished".
May 3 – The Old Man of the Mountain, a rock formation in New Hampshire, crumbles after heavy rain.
May 4 – Top Thrill Dragster opens in Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio as the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster.
May 4–10 – A major severe weather outbreak spawns more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history; 393 tornadoes are reported in 19 states.[citation needed]
May 25 – After docking in Miami at 05:00, the SS Norway (old SS France) is severely damaged by a boiler explosion at 06:30, killing seven and injuring 17 crew members. A few weeks later it is announced by Norwegian Cruise Line that she will never sail again as a commercial ocean liner.
May 28 – President George W. Bush authorizes $350 billion worth of tax cuts over 10 years.[2]
May 30 – Pixar Animation Studios' fifth feature film, Finding Nemo, is released in theaters, becoming the studio's biggest financial success up to that point.
May 31 – Eric Rudolph, suspected in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996, is captured in Murphy, North Carolina.
June[]
June – As a result of the early 2000s recession, as well as the jobless recovery that followed, unemployment peaks at 6.3%, the highest since April 1994.
June 4 – Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and then obstructing a federal investigation. Stewart also resigns as chairperson and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living.
June 14 – Ennis shooting: A gunman goes on a shooting spree in Madison County, Montana. The gunman kills one man and injures six others, before being involved in a chase and shootout with responding police. He is sentenced to 11 life terms, the longest prison sentence in Montana state history.
June 19 – The US Census Bureau announces that with 37 million, Hispanics constitute the largest minority in the USA (compared with 36 million African Americans).[5]
June 22 – The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska.
June 23 – Grutter v. Bollinger: The Supreme Court of the United States upholds affirmative action in university admissions.
June 26
A senior Department of State chemical and biological weapons expert testifies to the House of RepresentativesIntelligence Committee that he was pressured to modify intelligence reports about Iraq.[2]
Lawrence v. Texas: The U.S. Supreme Court declares sodomy laws unconstitutional.
June 30 – In Irvine, California, Joseph Hunter Parker kills two Albertsons employees with a sword, before being shot to death by the police.
July[]
July 8 – Douglas Williams goes on a shooting rampage in a Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, Mississippi, killing six and injuring eight before committing suicide.
July 9 – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, directed by Gore Verbinski is released in theaters as the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film Series.
July 14 – CIA leak scandal: The Washington Post columnist Robert Novak publishes the name of Valerie Plame, blowing her cover as a CIA operative.
July 22 – Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of Saddam Hussein, are killed by the U.S. military in Iraq, after being tipped off by an informant.
July 26 – The electorate of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma approves a new constitution re-designating the tribe "Cherokee Nation" without "of Oklahoma" and specifically disenfranchising the Cherokee Freedmen.
August[]
August 14 – A widespread power outage affects the northeastern United States and South-Central Canada.
August 25 – The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, during Delta II.
August 28 – Brian Douglas Wells, a pizza delivery man in Erie, Pennsylvania, is killed after a bomb fastened around his neck explodes. Wells was forced to rob a bank with the bomb collar on before it was detonated remotely.
September[]
September 7 – President Bush announces a request for $87 billion from Congress for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.[2]
September 17 – President Bush concedes there is no evidence linking Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to the September 11, 2001 attacks.[2]
September 18 – Hurricane Isabel makes landfall as a Category 2 Hurricane on North Carolina's Outer Banks. It directly kills 16 people in the Mid–Atlantic area.
October[]
October 7 – 2003 California gubernatorial recall election: Voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
October 9 – The redesigned $20 bill is first released, containing many new security features not found in older bills.
October 10 – Facing an investigation surrounding allegations of illegal drug use, American right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh publicly admits that he is addicted to prescription pain killers, and will seek treatment.
October 15 – The 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash kills 11 after one of its ferries slams into a pier.
October 25
The Florida Marlins defeat the New York Yankees to win their second World Series title.
The Cedar Fire begins in San Diego County, burning 280,000 acres (1,100 km2), 2,232 homes and killing 14.
November[]
November 1 – Walt Disney Pictures' 44th feature film, Brother Bear, is released to box office success but mixed-to-negative critical reception.
November 7 – Elf, directed by Jon Favreau is released in theaters.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, rules anti-gay laws against same-sex marriage unconstitutional in Massachusetts.
U.S. President George W. Bush makes a state visit to London in the midst of massive anti-war protests.
November 20 – Iraq War: End of Operation Iron Hammer, an attempt to end the Iraq insurgency.[2]
December[]
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 13 – Iraq War: End of Operation Red Dawn resulting in the capture of Saddam Hussein in Tikrit.[2]
December 19 – After being arrested, Guatemalan Ricardo Alfonso Cerna commits suicide at a police station in San Bernardino County, California by shooting himself in the head with a concealed handgun.
December 22 – The 6.6 MwSan Simeon earthquake shook the central coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving two dead and 40 injured, and causing $250–300 million in damage.
December 24
At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the French government orders Air France to cancel several flights between France and the U.S. in response to terrorism concerns.
A BSE (mad cow disease) outbreak in Washington state is announced. Several countries including Brazil, Australia, and Taiwan ban the import of beef from the United States.
December 31 – British Airways Flight 223, a Boeing 747-400 flying from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles, is held for security checks after landing in Washington, D.C. due to intelligence suggesting a terrorist threat.[6]
^Krausman, Paul R.; Cain, James W. (2013). Wildlife Management and Conservation: Contemporary Principles and Practices. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 222. ISBN978-1-42140-987-0.