WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO APRIL 2003
Find out what all happened January to April 2003

France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. (10. February 2003)

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (17. March 2003)

An Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft crashes near Kerman, Iran, killing 275. (19. February 2003)

US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board. (8. January 2003)

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution. (4. February 2003)

Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq. (23. March 2003)

2003 Invasion of Iraq: A group of people leave London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations. (25. January 2003)

The Human Genome Project is completed two and a half years earlier than expected. (25. April 2003)

Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human had been found in Italy. (13. March 2003)

The Bengali Hindus declares the independence of the Republic of Bangabhumi from Bangladesh. (4. February 2003)

The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. (16. January 2003)

Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between 8 million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history. (15. February 2003)

Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American woman involved with the International Solidarity Movement, is killed trying to prevent a Palestinian home from being destroyed by a bulldozer in Rafah. (16. March 2003)

Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade. (12. March 2003)

The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union. (16. April 2003)

The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague. (1. March 2003)

The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress. (27. January 2003)

Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea. (18. February 2003)

A bushfire kills 4 people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia. (18. January 2003)

The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%. (14. April 2003)