On this day

January 18, 2003

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from January 18, 2003

New York Reaches Deal to End 20-Year Legal Fight on Homeless

By Leslie Kaufman

Representatives of New York City and its homeless persons move toward ending 20-year-old lawsuit over rights of homeless families; agree to create independent panel to shape city's long-range policy for such families; prior disputes led to steep court-ordered fines for city and to judges dictating policy; panel will mediate disputes between city and homeless families for two years, review policies and then make recommendations for resolving all litigation; panel will have no role in shelter system for single adults; surprise announcement of panel's formation by city and principal court representative of homeless Legal Aid Society comes as lawyers appear in court to settle issue of rights of homeless families in shelters who refuse appropriate apartments proffered by city; two sides agree that families can be moved to suitable apartments of city's choice; Mayor Michael R Bloomberg and Homeless Commissioner Linda I Gibbs considered ending this litigation top priority; both are visibly elated over agreement; photos; table of chronology of litigation since 1983 regarding rights of homeless families (M)

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INSIDE

By Unknown Author

Connecticut Lays Off 1,200 Yesterday was the last day of work for about 1,200 Connecticut state employees, victims of Gov. John G. Rowland's plan to close a $650 million budget gap. PAGE B1 Enron's Circular Money Trail Charities for former employees of Enron and WorldCom are flourishing, thanks to lawmakers who handed over campaign contributions from the companies. PAGE A11

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3 QUITTING PANEL ON OLYMPIC ETHICS

By Richard Sandomir

United States Olympic Committee ethics board members Edward Petry, Stephen Potts and John Kuelbs resign, signaling widening of rift within USOC over conflict of interest charges against chief executive Lloyd D Ward; say they have lost confidence in Olympic committee's ability to enforce its ethics code; unrest within USOC could hinder efforts to secure sponsorships needed in 19 months for United States athletes at 2004 Summer Games (M)

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of January 15, 2003, covering January 18, 2003.

  1. 1
    Album cover for 8 Mile by Soundtrack

    8 Mile

    Soundtrack

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    10
  2. 2
    Album cover for Come Away With Me by Norah Jones

    Come Away With Me

    Norah Jones

    Last week
    7
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    45
  3. 3
    Album cover for Let Go by Avril Lavigne

    Let Go

    Avril Lavigne

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    31
  4. 4
    Album cover for Home by Dixie Chicks

    Home

    Dixie Chicks

    Last week
    4
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    19
  5. 5
    Album cover for Stripped by Christina Aguilera

    Stripped

    Christina Aguilera

    Last week
    8
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    10

Notable Deaths

The Sheik (wrestler)

2003Ed Farhat, American wrestler and trainer (born 1924)[†]

Edward George Farhat was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Sheik. In wrestling, Farhat, whose career debuted in 1947, is credited as one of the originators of the hardcore style, is also retroactively called The Original Sheik, mostly to distinguish him from the similarly-named The Iron Sheik who debuted in 1972.

Harivansh Rai Bachchan

2003Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Indian poet and author (born 1907)[†]

Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is best known for his early work Madhushala. He was the father of Amitabh Bachchan, and grandfather of Shweta Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. His wife Teji Bachchan was a social activist. In 1976, he received the Padma Bhushan for his service to Hindi literature.

Historical Events

2003 Canberra bushfires

2003A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.[†]

The 2003 Canberra bushfires caused severe damage to the suburbs and outer areas of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during 18–22 January 2003. Almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) pastures, pine plantations, and nature parks were severely damaged, and most of the Mount Stromlo Observatory was destroyed. After burning for a week around the edges of the ACT, the fires entered the suburbs of Canberra on 18 January 2003. Over the next ten hours, four people died, over 490 were injured, and 470 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a significant relief and reconstruction effort.

Historical Context for January 18, 2003

In 2003, the world population was approximately 6,420,361,634 people[†]