May 2003

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Events

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May 1, 2003

  • The Labour Party under the leadership of Rhodri Morgan win a landslide victory in the Welsh Assembly elections.
  • President Bush safely lands in an S-3B Viking jet on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln returning from operations in Iraq while 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. It is the first time a sitting president has arrived on the deck of an aircraft carrier by plane. Bush makes a primetime address, surrounded by hundreds of sailors, in which he declares major combat operations in Iraq over while standing in front of a banner reading "Mission Accomplished".
  • A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits Bingöl, Turkey, killing at least 177 people and injuring 520.
  • United States Navy forces start moving out of Vieques. A big celebration erupts on Vieques' streets at 12:01 AM EST, to celebrate the military's move out of the island.
  • The British Columbia Supreme Court becomes the third provincial supreme court to rule that the Canadian government must legally recognize same-sex marriage.
  • The Canadian dollar exceeds 70 cents US for the first time in five years, reaching $0.7044 US.

May 2, 2003

  • U.S. economic indicators: The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics announces that the unemployment rate rose to 6% in April as employers cut 48,000 jobs, smaller than the consensus estimate of 75,000. This followed a revised decline of 124,000 jobs in March.

May 3, 2003

  • Funny Cide, a gelding, wins the Kentucky Derby.
  • Titular Archbishop of Glendalough and Vatican representative in the United Nations in Geneva, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is named Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin by Pope John Paul II. His appointment is announced to worshippers at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin by the Archbishop of Dublin Cardinal Desmond Connell. No date is given for Connell's retirement but Martin's appointment takes immediate effect.
  • Dar Heatherington, Lethbridge alderman, disappears in Great Falls, Montana, and is found three days later, alleging that she had been abducted and raped. A series of legal battles later stated that Heatherington had made these charges up, though she maintains her innocence.

May 4, 2003

  • At least 19 people are killed in a series of tornadoes in the states of Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.

May 5, 2003

  • Boeing unveils a drawing of a proposed airplane of the future and launches a public contest to name the aircraft.

May 6, 2003

May 7, 2003

  • Nearly 40,000 manuscripts and 700 artifacts belonging to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad are recovered by U.S. Customs agents working with museum experts in Iraq. Some looters had returned items after promises of rewards and amnesty, and many items previously reported missing had actually been hidden in secret storage vaults at the museum prior to the outbreak of war.
  • A five-hour transit of Mercury takes place, an event that occurs only 13 times per century on average.

May 8, 2003

May 9, 2003

  • As many as 129 are feared dead after a door opens on a plane flying from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The victims were sucked from the plane, which returned to Kinshasa after the incident. Although the airline to which the plane belongs to is unknown, the plane involved in the tragedy has a logo of Ukrainian Cargo Airlines.
  • The United States Senate Armed Services Committee votes to lift a 10-year-old ban on the research and development of low-yield nuclear weapons as part of its 2004 defense-spending bill. The majority of the committee and the Bush administration argue that such weapons may in the future become necessary to deal with terrorist threats, and to effectively incinerate biological or chemical weapons installations. The move is criticized by Democrats who fear that it will increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear escalation in warfare. »http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5830795.htm, »http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/130/nation/OK_is_given_to_pursue_small_nuclear_arms+.shtml
  • The National Association of Evangelicals, a group of evangelical Christians, condemns Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Vines, Pat Robertson and other evangelical ministers for anti-Islamic statements.
  • The United States House of Representatives approves a tax-cut measure for $550 billion over 10 years. This is $176 billion less than President George W. Bush originally proposed, but $200 billion more than the Senate's version of the same measure. One highly controversial aspect of the President's initial proposal that the House removed is the repeal of the tax on dividends paid by corporations to shareholders. There are also important differences between the House and Senate bills, and great difficulty is foreseen in reconciling them before they may be sent to the President for approval.

May 10, 2003

  • The first confirmed SARS case is reported in Finland. A man who had been visiting Toronto is now being treated at Turku University Hospital.

May 11, 2003

  • Ponds on the north side of Catoctin Mountain, near Gambrill Park Road and Tower Road in Frederick, Maryland, are under investigation by the FBI, in connection with the 2001 anthrax attacks. FBI investigators found anthrax spores and other evidence in their search of ponds in the area during December and January, 2002. Divers retrieved a "clear box" with holes that could accommodate protective biological safety gloves, as well as vials wrapped in plastic from a pond in the Frederick Municipal Forest. A new theory has been developed suggesting how a criminal could have packed anthrax spores into envelopes without harming (him/her)self. Officials from Fort Detrick have stated that the water is safe because once in water anthrax spores cluster together and descend to the bottom. The water in the pond has been tested several times over the course of the investigation, and all indications are that the water is safe.
  • A number of newspapers have published the alleged identity of the British Force Research Unit's most senior informer within the Provisional IRA, code-named Stakeknife, who is thought to have been head of the Provisional IRA's internal security force, charged with routing out informers like himself. The person named has fled.
  • The Governor-General of Australia Peter Hollingworth has stood down from his post whilst investigations into his past are proceeding. Tasmanian Governor Sir Guy Green is appointed as Commonwealth Administrator.
  • Filip Vujanovic, a former Prime Minister who favors independence, was elected President of Montenegro. This was the third attempt at electing a President in five months; the first two votes did not attract enough voters to make the vote valid. This time the legislature had eliminated the turnout requirement.
  • Voters in Lithuania vote to join the European Union.
  • Manchester City FC close the curtains, at their stadium, Maine Road after 80 years.

May 12, 2003

May 13, 2003

May 14, 2003

  • DARPA's Information Processing Technology Office solicits bids for the LifeLog project, an extremely ambitious effort to create a massive searchable computer database, "an ontology-based (sub)system that captures, stores, and makes accessible the flow of one person's experience in and interactions with the world ... The objective ... is to be able to trace the 'threads' of an individual's life in terms of events, states, and relationships". [http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58909,00.html], »http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/Solicitations/PIP_03-30.html
  • SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: Apparently noticing the incongruity of their selling a Linux distribution while suing IBM for stealing their intellectual property and giving it to the developers of that operating system, the SCO Group (formerly Caldera) announces they will no longer distribute Linux. According to their press release, "SCO will continue to support existing SCO Linux and Caldera OpenLinux customers and hold them harmless from any SCO intellectual property issues regarding SCO Linux and Caldera OpenLinux products."
  • Carlos Menem quits the Argentinian presidential race; fellow Peronist NĂ©stor Kirchner is consequently expected to win.
  • The bodies of 17 Hispanics, suspected Mexican illegal immigrants, were found by police in Victoria, Texas. One more person, a man, died in a hospital, raising the death total to 18. 13 of the bodies were found inside a locked truck, and four of them outside it. A man was later arrested in Houston on suspicion of being the smuggler who led the 18 persons to their deaths.

May 15, 2003

  • The journal Nature reports that all species of large fish in the world's oceans have been so thoroughly overfished that just 10% of the population that there was in 1950 remains. The scientists who authored the report conclude that the world's oceans are no longer even close to their natural state. Sharks, Atlantic cod, and Pacific sardines are tapped as particularly imperilled with extinction. The scientists recommend drastic measures to reduce ocean fishing. »Nature, »Environment News, »BBC
  • The United States Senate approves a tax-cut bill designed to cut revenues by a total of $350 billion over ten years. The Senate takes a compromise position on the controversial issue of taxing stock dividends; the dividend tax is temporarily reduced, then eliminated, and reinstated for 2007. The bill will now go to a conference committee to resolve differences with a $550 billion tax cut passed by the House on May 10.
  • China announces a new series of measures to combat SARS. Foreign adoptions of Chinese babies are now suspended. The penalties for knowingly spreading the disease have been increased, and now include execution.
  • United States federal prosecutors indict Jamal Ahmed Ali al-Badawi and Fahd al-Quso, in absentia, in connection with the USS Cole bombing in Yemen on October 12, 2000.

May 16, 2003

  • 2003 occupation of Iraq: United States and United Kingdom officials announce a change of policy concerning the redevelopment of Iraq. The establishment of an Iraq-led national assembly will be put off indefinitely, and Allied commanders will remain in charge, reportedly because no new government would have the necessary amount of real power.
  • Terrorist incidents: A series of explosions occurs in Casablanca. At least 41 people are believed to be dead including 12 suicide bombers. 100 are reported injured. See: Casablanca Attacks.[http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2763012]
  • Astronomy: A total lunar eclipse is visible from Europe, the Americas and most of Africa from 01:46 to 05:34 GMT »Nasa 1, »Nasa 2.
  • The Guardian reports that the Republican Party of Texas had the help of the United States Department of Homeland Security to track down several Democratic Party state legislators who had fled the state to prevent the state's House of Representatives from meeting with a quorum.[http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,957143,00.html]
  • Three time defending NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers get eliminated from the 2002-2003 playoffs, losing 110-82 to the San Antonio Spurs in Los Angeles in Game 6 of their series.

May 17, 2003

  • Horse-racing: Funny Cide, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, wins the Preakness Stakes by 9 3/4 lengths.
  • Flooding begins in Sri Lanka; it left 500 missing and 350,000 homeless.

May 18, 2003

May 19, 2003

  • White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announces he will resign from his job in the summer, citing his desire to see his new wife more and to work in the private sector as reasons for his decision.
  • Boobs! The Musical, the World According to Ruth Wallis, by Ruth Wallis, opens at the Triad Theater in New York City. Gennifer Flowers is an eventual understudy in this play.

May 20, 2003

  • Christine Todd-Whitman announces that on June 27 she will resign her position as Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
  • The Chelsea Flower Show opens
  • A case of BSE ("mad cow disease") in a single cow in Alberta is confirmed by Canadian federal and provincial officials. The animal had been destroyed and declared unfit for consumption prior to being diagnosed. The US issues a temporary ban on all Canadian beef. This is the first North American case of BSE since one in 1993 involving an animal born in Britain.
  • DARPA's Congressional report announces that the controversial Total Information Awareness program will be known as the Terrorist Information Awareness program from now on, to emphasize that its purpose is to compile data on terrorists, and not to compile dossiers on US citizens.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired its series finale, concluding the seven year series.

May 21, 2003

  • An earthquake in northern Algeria measures 6.7 on the Richter scale; at least 1,600 are feared dead and 7,000 injured.
  • An explosion occurs inside the Yale University's Sterling Law School Building in New Haven, Connecticut, damaging two rooms. Investigators from the Joint Terrorism Task Force respond. No injuries reported. Authorities strongly believe the explosion was caused by a pipe bomb.
  • In Britain, the convicted child-killer Mary Bell, now living under a new name and assumed identity, wins her High Court battle for anonymity.
  • In a close vote, Ruben Studdard beat out Clay Aiken to become the next American Idol.

May 22, 2003

May 23, 2003

May 24, 2003

May 25, 2003

May 26, 2003

May 27, 2003

  • Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon states that the "occupation" of Palestinian territories is "a terrible thing for Israel and for the Palestinians" and "can't continue endlessly." Sharon's phraseology prompts shock from many in Israel, leading to a clarification that by "occupation," Sharon meant control of millions of Palestinian lives rather than actual physical occupation of land. »http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/05/27/mideast/index.html
  • SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: Novell enters the lawsuit between the SCO Group and IBM with a press release concerning the SCO Group's ownership of UNIX. "To Novell's knowledge, the 1995 agreement governing SCO's purchase of UNIX from Novell does not convey to SCO the associated copyrights," a letter to the SCO Group's CEO Darl McBride said in part. "We believe it unlikely that SCO can demonstrate that it has any ownership interest whatsoever in those copyrights. Apparently you share this view, since over the last few months you have repeatedly asked Novell to transfer the copyrights to SCO, requests that Novell has rejected."

May 28, 2003

May 29, 2003

May 30, 2003

May 31, 2003

References

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