The Year in Pictures 2003

Fade to Black
Office workers rushing down emergency-lit stairwells, rumors of terrorism, an exodus from Manhattan. For New Yorkers, the first few minutes of Blackout '03 in August recalled the confusion of 9/11. Soon came word that power had failed across a swath from the Northeast all the way to Detroit and parts of Canada. By Nightfall, it became clear that technical glitches, not sabotage, were to blame. Three months later, a panel of experts reported that a series of human and computer failures at FirstEnergy, an Ohio utility, were largely to blame for North America's largest power failure

• Person of the Year 2003
• Famous Kisses: 2003