What happened March 2003 AD

On March 1, 26-year-old Esther Mok was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital after visiting Hong Kong, starting the Singapore outbreak. She recovered as various family members died.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested on March 1, 2003, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, by Pakistani security officials working with the CIA. He was then held at multiple CIA secret prisons and Guantanamo Bay where he was interrogated and tortured with methods including waterboarding.

In March 2003 DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to the long-running fantasy series Elfquest, previously self-published by creators Wendy and Richard Pini under their WaRP Graphics publication banner. This series then followed another non-DC title, Tower Comics' series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, in collection into DC Archive Editions.

On March 4, a 27-year-old Hong Kong man who had visited a guest in Metropole (on the ninth floor) 11 days earlier was admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital. At least 99 hospital workers (including 17 medical students) were infected while treating him.

Liu Jianlun died in the intensive care Unit at Kwong Wah Hospital after being held in the hospital for around 10 days.

Carlo Urbani, a WHO infectious disease specialist, was among the staff who examined Chen. Urbani observed that other hospital staff were already becoming ill and realized that he was dealing with a new and dangerous disease. His diagnosis was clear: this was an unusual case of an “unknown contagious disease”. Responding to the gravity of the situation, Dr Urbani alerted WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Hanoi French Hospital didn't accept new patients starting from March 11, but it only kept its own infected staff.

On March 12, WHO issued a global alert about a new infectious disease of unknown origin in both Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Johnny Chen was then evacuated to Hong Kong, he died on March 13.

On March 15, WHO issued a heightened global health alert about mysterious pneumonia with a case definition of SARS after cases in Singapore and Canada were also identified. The alert included a rare emergency travel advisory to international travellers, healthcare professionals, and health authorities.

Liu's brother-in-law sought medical treatment in late February, entered the hospital on March 1, and died on March 19. Twenty-three other guests from the Metropole developed SARS, seven of them from the ninth floor, and it is estimated that around 80% of the Hong Kong cases were due to Liu.

On March 15, Nguyen Thi Luong, the nurse who had tended to Chen, died. On March 19, Jean Paul Derosier, the anesthetist who had put Chen on a ventilator, died. On March 24, gynecologist Nguyen The Phuong and nurse Nguyen Thi Uyen died.

Nash received an honorary degree in economics from the University of Naples Federico II on March 19, 2003

More than 20 nations (most notably the United Kingdom), designated the "coalition of the willing" joined the United States in invading Iraq. They launched the invasion on March 20, 2003. The Iraqi military was quickly defeated.

On 23 March 2003, a new Chechen constitution was passed in a referendum.

On March 27, Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau announced the class cancellation of all educational institutions.

The Ministry of Education of Singapore announced that all primary schools, secondary schools, and junior colleges were to be shut until April 6, 2003.

During a flight to Bangkok to attend a conference, Dr Urbani developed symptoms of SARS. He died of complication related to SARS on 29 March 2003 – a public health hero.

In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the organization's effectiveness.

On March 30, Hong Kong authorities quarantined estate E of the Amoy Gardens Apartment due to a massive (200+ cases) outbreak in the building.

After failing to win a number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship, The Rock went into another program with Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to a match at WrestleMania XIX, which called back to their previous two WrestleMania encounters, both of which Austin had won.

The next night, Raw was billed as "The Rock Appreciation Night", in honor of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg.