* Neil Postman, ( 1931 – 2003 ) author, media theorist and cultural critic,

The first surviving edition ( bilingual Swedish – Esperanto ) was published in Sweden in 2003.

* 1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian sculptor ( d. 2003 )

* 1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician ( d. 2003 )

* 2003 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60, 000 years, passing distant.

* 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.

* 1900 – Cecil Howard Green, English-American geophysicist ( d. 2003 )

* 1944 – Inday Badiday, Filipino journalist ( d. 2003 )

* 1955 – Rusty Magee, American composer ( d. 2003 )

* 1969 – Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist ( Heatmiser ( d. 2003 )

* 1972 – Yetunde Price, American murder victim ( d. 2003 )

* 1941 – Erin Fleming, Canadian actress ( d. 2003 )

Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka ( Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003 ), pp. 67 – 89

* 1930 – Vali Myers, Australian painter ( d. 2003 )

* 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer ( b. 1956 )

"--- what Jesus ’ immortal spirit did after His death and before His Resurrection is a mystery to all but the Latter-day Saints ---" ( Elder Spencer J. Condie, Liahona ,-Church magazine – July, 2003 ) "--- unto the wicked he did not go, and among the ungodly and the unrepentant-- his voice was not raised.

* 1910 – Walter Scharf, American composer ( d. 2003 )

* 1952 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia ( d. 2003 )

* 1924 – Leon Uris, American novelist ( d. 2003 )

* 2003 – Roger Voudouris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist ( b. 1954 )

" Everyday Life and the Challenge to History in Postwar France: Braudel, Lefebvre, Certeau ," Diacritics, Volume 33, Number 1, Spring 2003, pp. 23 – 40 in Project Muse

* 1925 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter ( d. 2003 )

* 1927 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player ( d. 2003 )

* 1907 – Benny Carter, American musician, composer, and bandleader ( d. 2003 )

* 1925 – Alija Izetbegović, Bosniak politician, 1st President of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( d. 2003 )

Cooperation between the U. S. and Indonesia on counter-terrorism has increased steadily since 2002, as terrorist attacks in Bali ( October 2002 and October 2005 ), Jakarta ( August 2003 and September 2004 ) and other regional locations demonstrated the presence of terrorist organizations, principally Jemaah Islamiyah, in Indonesia.

Jemaah Islamiah is also strongly suspected of carrying out the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing in Kuningan, Jakarta, the 2004 Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta, the 2005 Bali terrorist bombing and the 2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings.

* A bomb manual published by the Jemaah Islamiah was used in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing and the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing.

* Jemaah Islamiah in South East Asia: Damaged but Still Dangerous-International Crisis Group report dated August 26, 2003

* Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah ( PDF )-National Bureau of Asian Research report dated December 2003

* " Jemaah Islamiah still a threat "-BBC News article dated August 15, 2003

Both men were close associates of Jemaah Islamiyah's former operational chief, Riduan Isamuddin ( better known as Hambali ), who was captured in Thailand in 2003.

* Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah ( PDF )-National Bureau of Asian Research ( December 2003 )

* Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia: Damaged but Still Dangerous-International Crisis Group ( 26 August 2003 )

* 2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces ; Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces.

* 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.

* 2003 – U. S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the in 1985.

When Gianfranco Fini visited Israel in late November 2003 in the function of Italian Deputy Prime Minister, he labeled the racial laws issued by the fascist regime in 1938 as " infamous ", as also Giorgio Almirante, historic leader of MSI, had done before.

The government was deposed in 15 March 2003 by forces under the rebel leader François Bozizé, who promised elections in 18 to 30 months.

King Abdullah of Jordan has become the first Arab leader to visit Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, a landmark step towards reducing Baghdad's isolation among its Sunni Arab neighbours.

* 1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leone political leader ( d. 2003 )

* 1964 – Uday Hussein, Iraqi leader, son of Saddam Hussein ( d. 2003 )

* 1981 – Mahathir Mohamad becomes Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister ; his 22 years in office, ending with retirement on 31 October 2003, made him Asia's longest-serving political leader.

* 1918 – Chubby Jackson, American jazz double-bassist and band leader ( d. 2003 )

Since the president is both the " Chairman for Life " of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government.

* In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq over concerns leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction including chemical and biological weapons.

* Paul Martin replaces Jean Chrétien as Prime Minister of Canada in 2003 by becoming the new leader of the Liberal Party.

* March 25 – British prime minister Tony Blair visits Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, in return for the dismantling of Libya's weapons of mass destruction programme in December 2003 ( the first time a major western leader had visited the nation in several decades ).

Gelbart-scripted films for television included Barbarians at the Gate ( 1993 ), a true story about the battle for control of the RJR Nabisco corporation starring James Garner that was based on the best-selling book of that name ; Weapons of Mass Distraction ( 1997 ) starring Ben Kingsley and Gabriel Byrne as rival media moguls and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself ( 2003 ) starring Antonio Banderas as the Mexican revolutionary leader.

In May 2003 Olivier Dupuis resigned from his office as Secretary of the party, because of serious political differences with TRP leader Marco Pannella.

On October 15, 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party ( under its new leader Peter MacKay ) announced that they would merge to form a new party, called the Conservative Party of Canada.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, who had resigned from his dual role as president and Assembly group leader following the losses in the 2003 Assembly election, was re-elected in the latter role.

Rebel leader François Bozizé took power by seizing Bangui in March 2003, ousting Patasse.

* Donald Justin Wolfram ( 1919 – 2003 ), American religious leader

Newkirk was criticized in 2003 for sending a letter to PLO leader Yasser Arafat asking him to keep animals out of the conflict, after a donkey was blown up during an attack in Jerusalem.

At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time American League ( AL ) All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in base on balls.