2003 china launches shenzhou 5 its first crewed space mission
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2003 23 years ago Historical Events October 15

China launches Shenzhou 5, its first crewed space mission.

On October 15, in the year 2003, China launches Shenzhou 5, its first crewed space mission. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of October 15, a notable event in this corner of history.

Shenzhou 5 was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of uncrewed Shenzhou missions since 1999. China became the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States. As of September 2026, this mission marks the last recent time an astronaut was launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on October 15, 2003 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 1 Wikipedia article.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 2 August 2026.

On This Date in History

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2025 Oct 15 Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2024 Oct 15 Mike Jackson, English general (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2021 Oct 15 David Amess, British politician, member of Parliament for Southend West (born 1952)
Historical Events 2018 Oct 15 13-year-old American girl, Jayme Closs, is kidnapped from her Barron, Wisconsin home after her parents were both…
Notable Deaths 2018 Oct 15 Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, philanthropist, owner of the Seattle Seahawks (born 1953)
Selected Events 2018 Oct 15 Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs was kidnapped from her home in Barron, Wisconsin, and held captive for 88 days.
Notable Deaths 2017 Oct 15 Chinggoy Alonzo, Filipino theater, movie & television actor (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2017 Oct 15 Deng Ken, Chinese politician, younger brother of former Paramount leader of China Deng Xiaoping (born 1911)
Historical Events 2016 Oct 15 One hundred and ninety-seven nations amend the Montreal Protocol to include a phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons.
Notable Deaths 2014 Oct 15 Giovanni Reale, Italian philosopher and historian (born 1931)
Historical Events 2013 Oct 15 The 7.2 Mw Bohol earthquake strikes the Philippines. At least 215 were killed.
Notable Deaths 2013 Oct 15 Donald Bailey, American drummer (born 1933)
Selected Events 2013 Oct 15 A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Bohol in the Philippines, resulting in 222 deaths.
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 15 Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 15 Erol Günaydın, Turkish actor and screenwriter (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 15 Maria Petrou, Greek-English computer scientist and academic (born 1953)
Notable Deaths 2012 Oct 15 Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2011 Oct 15 Betty Driver, English actress, singer, and author (born 1920)
Selected Events 2011 Oct 15 Global demonstrations against economic inequality, corporate influence on government, and other issues, were held in…
Notable Deaths 2010 Oct 15 Richard C. Miller, American photographer (born 1912)
Notable Deaths 2010 Oct 15 Mildred Fay Jefferson, American physician and activist (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2010 Oct 15 Johnny Sheffield, American actor (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2009 Oct 15 Heinz Versteeg, Dutch-German footballer (born 1939)
Historical Events 2008 Oct 15 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst percentage drop in the Dow's…
Notable Deaths 2008 Oct 15 Edie Adams, American actress and singer (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2008 Oct 15 Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Turkish soldier and poet (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2008 Oct 15 Jack Narz, American game show host and announcer (born 1922)
Historical Events 2007 Oct 15 Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids.
Notable Deaths 2007 Oct 15 Piet Boukema, Dutch jurist and politician (born 1933)
Selected Events 2007 Oct 15 New Zealand Police conducted several anti-terrorism raids in relation to the discovery of an alleged paramilitary…
Historical Events 2006 Oct 15 The 6.7 Mw Kiholo Bay earthquake rocks Hawaii, causing property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and the…
Selected Events 2006 Oct 15 An earthquake registering 6.7 Mw occurred off the northwestern coast of the island of Hawaii.
Notable Births 2005 Oct 15 Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark
Notable Deaths 2005 Oct 15 Jason Collier, American basketball player (born 1977)
Notable Deaths 2005 Oct 15 Matti Wuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (born 1945)
Notable Deaths 2004 Oct 15 Per Højholt, Danish poet (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2003 Oct 15 Ben Metcalfe, Canadian journalist and activist (born 1919)
Historical Events 2001 Oct 15 NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles (180 km) of Jupiter's moon Io.
Notable Deaths 2001 Oct 15 Zhang Xueliang, Chinese general and warlord (born 1901)
Notable Births 2000 Oct 15 Melki Sedek Huang, Indonesian activist and sex offender
Notable Deaths 2000 Oct 15 Konrad Emil Bloch, Polish-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912)
Notable Deaths 2000 Oct 15 Vincent Canby, American journalist and critic (born 1924)
Notable Births 1999 Oct 15 Bailee Madison, American-Canadian actress and singer
Notable Births 1999 Oct 15 Ben Woodburn, Welsh footballer
Notable Deaths 1999 Oct 15 Josef Locke, British-Irish soldier, policeman, tenor and actor (born 1917)
Notable Births 1998 Oct 15 Teuku Wariza Aris Munandar, Indonesian activist and politician
Historical Events 1997 Oct 15 The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
Notable Births 1996 Oct 15 Charly Musonda, Belgian footballer
Notable Births 1996 Oct 15 Grace Van Dien, American actress
Notable Births 1996 Oct 15 Zelo, South Korean rapper and dancer

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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