About the day » Friday May 23, 2003Calender converter

• Tijn van der Meer († 2003)

• Emma Louise Vreeken (57), Amersfoort, Utrecht, Nederland
• Elizabeth Damsteeg (90), Lopik
• Anna Mathijssen (87), Etten-Leur
• Coraetta M. (83), of Quilcene, Jefferson, Washington, United States
• Berendiena Schroër (77), Lutten
• Aafke Siebrig Hiemstra (93), Leeuwarden, Gem. Leeuwarden, Friesland, Nederland
• Annechiena Sietske Huizenga (85), Zwolle
• Elisabeth de Ligt (76), Capelle aan de IJssel
• Arie Cornelis Stephanus Hoogendijk (81), Zoetermeer, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Audrey Elsie Blake (75), East Cowes, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, England

• 1997 » Coy Craft, American footballer
• 1997 » Joe Gomez, English footballer
• 1997 » Pedro Chirivella, Spanish footballer
• 1998 » Luca De La Torre, American footballer
• 1998 » Ross Cunningham, Scottish footballer
• 1998 » Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian race car driver
• 1998 » Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
• 1998 » Steve Lacy, American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer
• 2000 » Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian race car driver
• 2000 » Jaxson Hayes, American basketball player

• 1996 » Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1934)
• 1998 » Telford Taylor, American general and lawyer (b. 1908)
• 1999 » Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2002 » Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (b. 1912)
• 2006 » Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 2006 » Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1921)
• 2008 » Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, Spanish mountaineer (b. 1967)
• 2008 » Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1935)
• 2009 » Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (b. 1946)
• 2010 » José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1972)

1. Thomas
2. Daan
3. Lucas
4. Max
5. Ruben
6. Lars
7. Sem
8. Mike
9. Jesse
10. Jan
11. Sam
12. Remco
13. Tom
14. Martijn
15. Johannes
16. Niels

1. Emma
2. Isa
3. Maria
4. Lisa
5. Anna
6. Lieke
7. Anne
8. Laura
9. Catharina-amalia
10. Nina
11. Julia
12. Femke
13. Iris
14. Sanne
15. Lotte
16. Amber

• 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.
• June 2 » Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
• July 6 » The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively.
• July 30 » In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.
• August 27 » Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005km) distant.
• September 6 » Mahmoud Abbas resigns from his position of Palestinian Prime Minister.
• November 14 » Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz discover 90377 Sedna, a Trans-Neptunian object.

The temperature on May 23, 2003 was between 11.3 °C and 15.3 °C and averaged 12.9 °C. There was 9.4 mm of rain during 15.9 hours. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the southwest.