Strom Thurmond, who served in the United States Senate for a record 46 years, dies on this day in 2003. Thurmond’s long and controversial political career had ended with his retirement one year earlier. Thurmond was born on December 5, 1902, in Edgefield, South Carolina, where he also died. He graduated from what is now […]
Continue readingQueen Elizabeth Makes Helen Mirren A Dame
On this day in 2003, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II publishes the list of those she has chosen to appoint as Officers of the Order of the British Empire as part of the traditional Queen’s Birthday Honours. Included on the list were (among others) the soccer star David Beckham, the musician Sting, the actor Roger Moore […]
Continue readingGregory Peck Dies
On this day in 2003, the film actor Gregory Peck, best known to many for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of the courageous, dignified lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), dies at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 87. Born on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla, California, Peck graduated […]
Continue readingBob Hope Celebrates 100th Birthday
Some 35 U.S. states declare it to be Bob Hope Day on this day in 2003, when the iconic comedic actor and entertainer turns 100 years old. In a public ceremony held in Hollywood, city officials renamed the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Avenue–famous for its historic buildings and as a central point on […]
Continue readingSorenstam Makes History
On May 22, 2003, golfer Annika Sorenstam becomes the first woman to play in a PGA tour event since Babe Didrikson 58 years earlier, after receiving a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the Bank of America Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Annika Sorenstam was born October 9, 1970, in Bro, Sweden, outside of Stockholm. She […]
Continue readingRecord-Breaking Tornado Wave Begins
A record-breaking wave of tornadoes begins across the southern and midwestern United States on this day in 2003. By the time the wave is over, more than 500 tornadoes are recorded for the month, shattering the previous record by more than 100. The amazing spate of twisters followed an unusually quiet month of April, when […]
Continue readingBush Addresses The Nation After Space Huttle Columbia Explodes
On this day in 2003, after ordering the nation’s flags to fly at half-staff, President George W. Bush solemnly addresses the public via live television in the wake of the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia. Hours earlier, television crews had captured Columbia‘s tragic disintegration upon reentering the earth’s atmosphere. All aboard were killed. This […]
Continue readingColumbia Mission Ends In Disaster
On this day in 2003, the space shuttle Columbia breaks up while entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven crew members on board. The Columbia‘s 28th space mission, designated STS-107, was originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but was delayed numerous times for a variety of reasons over nearly two years. Columbia […]
Continue readingItalian Auto Baron Gianni Agnelli Dies
On this day in 2003, Giovanni “Gianni” Agnelli, the glamorous, powerful Italian business tycoon who turned Fiat, his family’s car company, into an international conglomerate, dies at the age of 81. Agnelli was born on March 12, 1921, in Turin, Italy, and named for his grandfather, who founded Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, later known as […]
Continue readingNational Society Of Film Critics Honors The Pianist
The National Society of Film Critics, comprising 55 of America’s top critics, holds its 37th annual meeting at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York City on this day in 2003. The critics chose the director Roman Polanski’s wrenching Holocaust drama The Pianist as best picture of the previous year,. As a young boy in Krakow during […]
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