WHAT ALL HAPPENED JUNE TO DECEMBER 2003
Find out what all happened June to December 2003

An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt. (28. August 2003)

The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, England, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice. (17. December 2003)

Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh assassinated (11. September 2003)

The Conservative Party of Canada is officially registered, following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. (7. December 2003)

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

In the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective. (18. November 2003)

Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel: 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, are killed, and 51 others wounded. (4. October 2003)

Iraq war: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base. (12. November 2003)

Rose Revolution: Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections. (23. November 2003)

Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record (501 kilometres per hour (311 mph)) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles. (12. November 2003)

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

In an effort to discredit U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had written an article critical of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Washington Post columnist Robert Novak reveals that Wilson's wife Valerie Plame is a CIA "operative". (14. July 2003)

Mission: SPACE opens to the public in the Epcot park at Walt Disney World. The opening ceremony included several astronauts from all eras of space exploration. (9. October 2003)

NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history. (11. August 2003)

A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more. (9. December 2003)

The highest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom – 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in Kent, England. It is the first time the United Kingdom has recorded a temperature over 100 °F (38 °C). (10. August 2003)

China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission. (15. October 2003)

A car-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees. (19. August 2003)

The People's Republic of China begins filling the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam. (1. June 2003)

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