Timeline October 2003

Events in October 2003 10

• 1916 – 2003 Maurice Wilkins (1916-2003) Died 5 October 2003, aged 86 Maurice Wilkins was a biophysicist whose X-ray diffraction work at King's College London contributed to the discovery of the structure of DNA. He shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with James Watson and Francis Crick.
• 1969 – 2003 Elliott Smith (1969-2003) Died 21 October 2003, aged 34 Elliott Smith was a singer-songwriter known for hushed vocals and intricate acoustic arrangements on albums such as 'Either/Or'. His song 'Miss Misery', from the film 'Good Will Hunting', was nominated for an Academy Award. He died of stab wounds to the chest in disputed circumstances.
• 2003 California recall election Voters oust Gray Davis and elect Schwarzenegger California voters recalled Governor Gray Davis and chose the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him in a chaotic special election with 135 candidates on the ballot. It was only the second successful recall of a US state governor and drew worldwide attention.
• 2003 Kill Bill: Volume 1 Six years away, then this After a six-year gap Tarantino returns with a revenge film assembled out of samurai cinema, spaghetti westerns, anime and Hong Kong martial arts. Written as one film, it is split in two at Miramax's insistence when the runtime passes four hours. Uma Thurman's Bride is the character Tarantino has said he is proudest of writing.
• 2003 Kill Bill: Volume 1 released Tarantino returns with a two-part revenge saga Quentin Tarantino's stylised revenge film, released as the first of two volumes, drew on martial-arts, spaghetti-western and samurai cinema. It marked his return to directing after a six-year gap and became one of his most widely referenced works.
• 2003 Schumacher's sixth Formula One title Sixth title breaks Fangio's 46-year-old record Michael Schumacher clinched his sixth Formula One drivers' championship at the Japanese Grand Prix, surpassing Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five titles that had stood since 1957. He was driving for Ferrari, with whom he won five consecutive championships from 2000 to 2004.
• 2003 Shenzhou 5 Yang Liwei becomes China's first astronaut Yang Liwei orbited the Earth 14 times aboard Shenzhou 5, making China the third country to launch a human into space using its own rocket and spacecraft. The 21-hour flight established China as a crewed spaceflight power and led to an expanding programme of missions and, later, a space station.
• 2003 – 2004 Simon & Garfunkel's Old Friends tour Reunion tour A reunion tour with the Everly Brothers as guests.
• 2003 Amy Winehouse releases Frank Debut album A jazz-influenced debut, nominated for the Mercury Prize.
• 2003 Final flight of Concorde Last commercial supersonic passenger flight British Airways operated the last commercial Concorde service, from New York to London Heathrow, ending 27 years of supersonic passenger travel. Air France had retired its fleet in May. High operating costs and falling demand after the 2000 Paris crash had made the aircraft uneconomic.