WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO SEPTEMBER 2003
Find out what all happened May to September 2003

The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. (10. June 2003)

The 70-metre Eupatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to 5 stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044 and 2049 respectively. (6. July 2003)

Anna Lindh, the foreign minister of Sweden, is fatally stabbed while shopping, and dies the following day. (10. September 2003)

A Neoplan bus, owned by Kowloon Motor Bus, collides with a truck, falls off a bridge on Tuen Mun Road, Hong Kong, and plunges into the underlying valley, killing 21 people. This is the deadliest traffic accident to date in Hong Kong. (10. July 2003)

An earthquake hits northern Algeria, killing more than 2,000 people. (21. May 2003)

A Hamas planned suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, Israel kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children, in the Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing. (19. August 2003)

While being towed across the Barents Sea, the de-commissioned Russian submarine K-159 sinks, taking 9 of her crew and 800 kg of spent nuclear fuel with her. (30. August 2003)

Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. (2. June 2003)

French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press. (13. July 2003)

Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf. (29. August 2003)

AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day (15. July 2003)

A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150. (5. August 2003)

Peter Hollingworth becomes the first Governor-General of Australia to resign his office as a result of criticism of his conduct. (28. May 2003)

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional. (26. June 2003)

NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover – B, was launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket. (7. July 2003)

The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. (27. August 2003)

The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. (12. September 2003)

Galileo mission is terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes. (21. September 2003)

In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks. (16. May 2003)

Delta Goodrem diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. (8. July 2003)