August 4, 2003

Construction workers of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, People's Republic of China accidentally dig out five Japanese mustard gas bombs from the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Two of the bombs are damaged, and the gas poisons 43 (one died 19 days later). Japan a week later accepts responsibility and sends doctors and compensation to China. [1]
The clergy and lay people of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, by a comfortable margin, vote in favor of the appointment of an openly gay bishop. The vote is thought likely to get confirmation from the bishops' collegium, which however is delayed due to last minute independent allegations of misconduct and intense conservative opposition. [2][3]
SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: Reuters have reported that Red Hat intends to start legal action against SCO to establish that SCO's claims against the Linux operating system are invalid.
The television anime FLCL is broadcast on American network television for the first time. Since it ran at 12:30 AM, it really aired on Tuesday, August 5th, although it was part of the Monday late-night lineup for Adult Swim.