2003

From top left, clockwise: the crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; Myspace launches becoming one of the first major social media platforms; protests in London against the invasion of Iraq; a drained river in France during the European heatwave; an earthquake in Bam, Iran kills 30,000 people; abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison by U.S. personnel; a statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad after his regime was deposed during the Iraq War.|300x300px|thumb|right