About the day » Wednesday December 17, 2003Calender converter

• Noel Grace Hull, Verenigde Statn († 2010)
• Lieve Keijdener, Lelystad († 2003)

• van Sluisveld (81)
• Barbara Frances Zemler (57), Fulda, Murray County, Minnesota, Verenigde Staten
• Bessie Mae Woodcock (100), Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina, United States
• Camille Schalenbourg (83), Tongeren, België
• Betty Lee Shirley Foster (70), Chester County, South Carolina
• Antonius Zaal (84), Zaanstad
• Elisabeth Cecilia Vermeulen (91), Sint-Niklaas
• Al Savelsbergh (75), Sittard
• Antonia Johanna Maria van der Horst (72)
• Carl E Pingel (87), Casa Grande, Pinal, Arizona, United States of America

• 1992 » Joshua Ingram, Canadian drummer and percussionist
• 1992 » Quinton de Kock, South African cricketer
• 1993 » Patricia Kú Flores, Peruvian tennis player
• 1994 » Lloyd Perrett, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1994 » Nat Wolff, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player and actor
• 1996 » Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Russian figure skater
• 1997 » Naiktha Bains, British-Australian tennis player
• 1997 » Shoma Uno, Japanese figure skater
• 1998 » Jasmine Armfield, English actress
• 1998 » Martin Ødegaard, Norwegian footballer

• 1999 » C. Vann Woodward, American historian and academic (b. 1908)
• 1999 » Grover Washington Jr., American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1943)
• 1999 » Rex Allen, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1920)
• 2002 » K. W. Devanayagam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 10th Sri Lankan Minister of Justice (b. 1910)
• 2003 » Otto Graham, American football player and coach (b. 1921)
• 2004 » Tom Wesselmann, American painter and sculptor (b. 1931)
• 2005 » Haljand Udam, Estonian orientalist and academic († 1936)
• 2005 » Jack Anderson, American journalist and author (b. 1922)
• 2005 » Marc Favreau, Canadian actor and poet (b. 1929)
• 2006 » Larry Sherry, American baseball player and coach (b. 1935)

• Koningin Beatrix (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from April 30, 1980 till April 30, 2013 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, July 22, 2002 to Tuesday, May 27, 2003 the cabinet Balkenende I, with Mr.dr. J.P. Balkenende (CDA) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from Tuesday, May 27, 2003 to Friday, July 7, 2006 the cabinet Balkenende II, with Mr.dr. J.P. Balkenende (CDA) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 16.2 million citizens.
• January 21 » A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
• March 17 » Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
• March 24 » The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
• May 1 » Invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USSAbraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
• August 26 » A Beechcraft 1900 operating as Colgan Air Flight 9446 crashes after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, killing both pilots on board.
• October 18 » Bolivian gas conflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.

The temperature on December 17, 2003 was between -1.5 °C and 7.0 °C and averaged 3.3 °C. There was 5.3 hours of sunshine (68%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the southwest.