April 1, 2003

Hong Kong movie and Cantopop star Leslie Cheung commits suicide at the age of 46.
In Japan, The Postal Services Agency becomes Japan Post, a public corporation. [1]
In Japan, Hyosuke Kujiraoka, a former vice speaker of the House of Representatives, dies in Adachi Ward, Tokyo. He was 87.
Air Canada, the main airline company of Canada asks for bankruptcy protection.
The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments for Grutter v. Bollinger, (regarding the University of Michigan Law Schools' affirmative action admissions policy), and Gratz and Hamacher v. Bollinger, (examining the university's undergraduate admissions policy.)
Cubana de Aviacion AN-24 airplane on a flight from the Isle of Youth in Cuba to Havana with 46 passengers on board is hijacked and directed towards the United States. After refueling in Havana the plane flew to Key West, under escort by two US jet fighters. The plane landed safely in Key West. [2]
Prisoner of war United States Army Private Jessica Lynch is rescued by U.S. forces from Nasiriya, Iraq (BBC News).
Squaresoft and Enix, two Japanese video game companies, announce their merger into Square Enix. Because of the timing, many people thought this was a mutually planned hoax.
The award-winning machinima series Red vs. Blue made its online premiere.

The Campus Security Department at Queen's University in Kingston, ON Canada reported Computer bugs had infected systems throughout the Campus. Reading the report eventually reveals a different twist to the story...
Alex McLeish, manager of Scotish football club Rangers announced the signing of seventeen year old Turkish player Yardis Alpolfo in a £5 million deal. The name is in fact an anagram of "April Fool's Day" but many news sources, including Reuters, reported the story. [3]
Locus Online carries a fake news story about Baen Books signing deals with Microsoft and Coca Cola for product placement deals in Baen novels.