Gamer Quoc Various

Events in 2003 and 16-3

Events in the world in the birth year of Quoc Various

• North Korea withdraws from treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons (Jan. 10).
• In State of the Union address, Bush announces that he is ready to attack Iraq even without a UN mandate (Jan. 28). (For an account of the U.S. build-up to war in Iraq, see News of the Nation, 2003.)
• Ariel Sharon elected Israeli prime minister (Jan. 29).
• Nine-week general strike in Venezuela calling for President Chavez's resignation ends in defeat (Feb. 2).
• U.S. Secretary of State Powell presents Iraq war rationale to UN, citing its WMD as imminent threat to world security (Feb. 5).
• U.S. and Britain launch war against Iraq (March 19). See also Iraq war timeline.
• Baghdad falls to U.S. troops (April 9).
• First Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, sworn in (April 29).
• U.S.-backed "road map" for peace proposed for Middle East (April 30). Background
• The U.S. declares official end to combat operations in Iraq (May 1).
• Terrorists strike in Saudi Arabia, killing 34 at Western compound; Al-Qaeda suspected (May 12).
• Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi again placed under house arrest by military regime (May 30).
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discovers Iran's concealed nuclear activities and calls for intensified inspections (June 18).
• Palestinian militant groups announce ceasefire toward Israel (June 29).
• Liberia's autocratic president Charles Taylor forced to leave civil-war ravaged country (Aug. 11). Background
• NATO assumes control of peacekeeping force in Afghanistan (Aug. 11). Background
• Libya accepts blame for 1988 bombing of flight over Lockerbie, Scotland; agrees to pay $2.7 billion to the families of the 270 victims (Aug. 15).
• Suicide bombing destroys UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing 24, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello (Aug. 19).
• Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem kills 20 Israelis, including 6 children (Aug. 19).
• After Israel retaliates for suicide bombing by killing top member of Hamas, militant Palestinian groups formally withdraw from cease-fire in effect since June 29 (Aug. 24).
• Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigns; "road map" to peace effectively collapses (Sept. 6). Background
• The Bush administration reverses policy, agreeing to transfer power to an interim Iraqi government in early 2004 (Nov. 14).
• Suicide bombers attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 (Nov. 15).
• Another terrorist attack in Istanbul kills 26 (Nov. 20). Al-Qaeda suspected in both. See suspected al-Qaeda terrorist attacks.
• Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns after weeks of protests (Nov. 23).
• Paul Martin succeeds Jean Chretien as Canadian prime minister (Dec. 12).
• Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops (Dec. 13).
• Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi announces he will give up weapons program (Dec. 19).

Birthday Quoc Various (16-3) in history

• Day 16-3 year 1521: Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan landed in the Philippines.
• Day 16-3 year 1850: Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter was published.
• Day 16-3 year 1926: The first liquid-fuel rocket was successfully launched by Prof. Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.
• Day 16-3 year 1935: Adolf Hitler cancelled the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.
• Day 16-3 year 1968: The My Lai massacre occurred in Vietnam.
• Day 16-3 year 1978: Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the Red Brigades.
• Day 16-3 year 1985: U.S. journalist Terry Anderson was kidnapped in Beirut; he was not released until December 4, 1991 after 2454 days in captivity.
• Day 16-3 year 1988: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver L. North and Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter of the National Security Council are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States for their role in the Iran-contra affair.