2007

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may be too long to comfortably read and navigate. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles and using this article for a summary of the key points of the subject. (July 2008)

Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

2007 was designated as:

• International Heliophysical Year.^[1]
• International Polar Year.^[2]
• European Year of Equal Opportunities for All.^[3]
• Year of Rumi.^[4]
• Year of the Dolphin.^[5]
• Scotland's Year of Highland Culture.
• Scouting Centenary, celebrating 100 years of the Scout Movement.

UNESCO has recognized fifteen anniversaries for 2007.^[6]

[edit] Events

[edit] January

Nancy Pelosi

• January 1 - Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union.
• January 1 - Slovenia adopts the Euro as its official currency, replacing the tolar.
• January 1 - South Korea's Ban Ki-moon becomes the new United Nations Secretary-General, replacing Kofi Annan.
• January 1 - Smoking is banned in all public places in Hong Kong.
• January 1 - Adam Air Flight 574, a routine domestic flight in Indonesia, disappears; debris is found 10 days later, but the aircraft remains missing.
• January 1 - Angola joins OPEC.
• January 1 - War in Somalia: Fighters of the Islamic Courts Union abandon their last stronghold in Kismayo and flee for the Kenyan border.
• January 2 - The new constitution of Gibraltar comes into force.^[7]
• January 3 - China conducts an anti-terror raid in Xinjiang.
• January 4 - Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
• January 5 - War in Somalia: The first shots are fired in the Battle of Ras Kamboni.
• January 8 - Daniel Ortega becomes President of Nicaragua for the second time.
• January 8 - Russian oil supplies to Poland, Germany, and Ukraine are cut as the Russia-Belarus energy dispute escalates; they are restored 3 days later.
• January 9 - War in Somalia: U.S. planes conduct air strikes in Somalia against suspected terrorists.
• January 9 - An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crashes in Balad, Iraq; the Islamic Army in Iraq claims to have shot it down.
• January 9 - Apple Inc. announces and introduces the highly speculated iPhone at the 2007 Macworld Conference & Expo.^[8]
• January 10 - President of the United States George W. Bush announces a plan to station 21,500 additional troops in Iraq.
• January 11 - In Bangladesh, a state of emergency is declared by caretaker President Iajuddin Ahmed, following weeks of violent protests preceding upcoming parliamentary elections.
• January 11 - Vietnam joins the World Trade Organization as its 150th member.
• January 11 - China successfully tests a ground-based ballistic missile capable of destroying satellites in orbit, drawing criticisms from other countries.
• January 12 - An Argentine judge issues a warrant for the arrest of former President Isabel Martínez de Perón, in connection with the disappearance of a human rights worker in 1976.
• January 12 - The U.S. Embassy in Athens is attacked with a rocket propelled grenade, which causes minimal damage and no injuries.
• January 12 - Comet McNaught, the brightest comet in over 40 years, makes perihelion.
• January 13 - The Greek ship Server breaks in half off the Norwegian coast, releasing over 200 tons of crude oil.
• January 14 - The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopts the Red Crystal as a non-religious emblem for use in its overseas operations.
• January 17 - Hurricane force winds from storm Kyrill claim at least 40 lives in western Europe.
• January 17 - Protests occur in India and the United Kingdom against the British series of Celebrity Big Brother, after Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara were allegedly racially abusive towards Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
• January 17 - The Doomsday Clock is advanced from 7 to 5 minutes to midnight.
• January 18 - Comet McNaught, the brightest comet to appear in over 40 years, becomes visible over the Southern Hemisphere.

Hurricane Kyrill creates havoc as it passes across northern Europe.

• January 18 - The strongest storm in the UK in 17 years kills 14 people, and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Hurricane Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe.
• January 19 - Israel releases $100 million in frozen assets to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority, in order to bolster the president's position.^[9]
• January 22 - A bombing in a market in Baghdad, Iraq kills 88 people.
• January 24 - The Israeli Ministry of Justice announces that the President of Israel, Moshe Katsav, will be charged with rape and abuse of power.
• January 25 - The President of Israel, Moshe Katsav, takes a temporary leave of absence due to a sex scandal.
• January 28 - A battle between insurgents and U.S.-backed Iraqi troops kills 300 suspected resistance members in Najaf, Iraq.
• January 28 - February 4 - The 2007 Asian Winter Games are held in Changchun, China.
• January 30 - Microsoft releases Windows Vista and Office 2007.
• January 31 - The Venezuelan National Assembly gives President Hugo Chávez the power to rule by decree for 18 months.
• January 31 - Delta Air Lines creditors reject US Airways' hostile takeover bid.
• January 31 - The Mooninite scare occurs in Boston, when devices used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force are mistaken for improvised explosive devices.

[edit] February

• February 1 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is questioned for a second time in the 'cash for peerages (Cash for Honours)' probe as a witness.
• February 2 - An unseasonal tornado in central Florida kills at least 20 people.
• February 2 - Palestinian factional violence: Hamas and its rival Fatah renew their truce after violence broke out following the initial ceasefire.
• February 2 - Chinese President Hu Jintao signs a series of economic deals with Sudan.
• February 2 - War in Somalia: Eight people are killed in a mortar attack in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.
• February 2 - Martti Ahtisaari unveils a United Nations plan for the final status of Kosovo; Serbian leaders denounce the proposal.
• February 2 - The IPCC publishes its fourth assessment report, having concluded that global climate change is "very likely" to have a predominantly human cause.
• February 3 - The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is found at a Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Suffolk, England.
• February 3 - A state of emergency is declared in Indonesia after 'El Nino'-like flooding.
• February 3 - A truck bombing in a crowded Baghdad market kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339 others.
• February 11 - Portuguese voters agree to legalise abortion in a national referendum.
• February 12 - An armed gunman shoots and kills 5 people at the Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah, before being killed by the police, bringing the evening's rampage death toll to 6.
• February 13 - North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon by April 14 as a first step towards complete denuclearization, receiving in return energy aid equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.^[10]
• February 13 - Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as Kuomintang party chairman after being indicted on charges of embezzlement; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.
• February 22 - A large fire causes 26 fatalities in the "Reģi" care center in Alsunga, Latvia.
• February 25 - The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, is held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The Departed wins Best Picture.
• February 26 - The International Court of Justice finds Serbia guilty of failing to prevent genocide in the Srebrenica massacre, but clears it of direct responsibility and complicity in the case.
• February 27 - The Chinese Correction: World stock markets plummet after China and Europe release less-than-expected growth reports.
• February 27 - 2007 Bagram Air Base bombing: A Taliban suicide attack at Bagram Air Base while Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney is visiting kills 23, but he is not injured.
• February 28 - The New Horizons space probe makes a gravitational slingshot against Jupiter, which changes its trajectory towards Pluto.

[edit] March

• March 1 - The International Polar Year, a $1.5 billion research program to study both the North Pole and South Pole, is launched in Paris.
• March 1 - Airbus announces that it will cease work indefinitely on the A380F freight aircraft.
• March 3 - A total lunar eclipse occurs.
• March 6 - Mega Millions sets a new world record for the highest lottery jackpot of US $370 million.
• March 7 - Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 (Boeing 737-400) crashes at Yogyakarta on the Indonesian island of Java, killing many on board.
• March 8 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits that Israel had planned an attack on Lebanon in the event of kidnapped soldiers on the border, months before Hezbollah carried out its kidnapping.
• March 12 - BBC journalist Alan Johnston disappears in Gaza City, the Gaza Strip.
• March 17 - Chlorine bombs injure hundreds in Baghdad, Iraq.
• March 22 - NATO troops kill 38 in 2 assaults in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
• March 23 - Naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard seize Royal Navy personnel in disputed Iran-Iraq waters.
• March 27 - Prime Minister of Latvia Aigars Kalvitis and Prime minister of Russia Mikhail Fradkov finally sign a border treaty between Latvia and Russia.
• March 31 - Sydney, Australia turns off its lights for 1 hour between 7:30pm and 8:30pm as a political statement about Global Climate Change.

[edit] April

• April 2 - The Solomon Islands are shaken by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, and hit by a subsequent tsunami.
• April 3 - Second Orange Revolution: Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolves the Ukrainian Parliament, following defections that increased the majority of his opponents.
• April 4 - NATO and Afghan forces retake a key town from the Taliban, Sangin in southern Helmand Province.
• April 4 - Iran announces it will release the British sailors and marines that they captured on March 23. The captives arrive back in the UK the next day.
• April 5 - The Greek cruise ship M/S Sea Diamond strikes a reef off the harbor of Santorini; the ship sinks the next day.
• April 6 - Severe clashes between 2 rival factions erupt in Parachinar, a tribal area of Pakistan bordering the famous Tora Bora Heights.
• April 11 - Al Qaeda claims responsibility for 2 bomb blasts in the Algerian capital of Algiers, which kill 33 people and injure 222 others.
• April 14 - Retired chess champion Garry Kasparov is detained in Moscow for participating in a banned march.

United States President George W. Bush with Virginia Tech Student Government Association President James Tyger after his speech at the school's convocation.

• April 16 - Thirty-two people are killed in the Virginia Tech massacre on the premises of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
• April 18 - Thirty-two Chinese steel workers are burnt to death in the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster.
• April 19 - U.S. and allied air forces conduct massive exercises over South Korea with over 500 planes.^[11]
• April 23 - Bogotá, Colombia begins its term as World Book Capital.
• April 24 - Gliese 581 c, a potentially habitable Earth-like extrasolar planet, is discovered in the constellation Libra.
• April 25 - U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduces articles to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.^[12]
• April 26 - Russians riot in Tallinn, Estonia, about moving the Bronze Soldier; 2 nights of rioting leave 2 dead.

[edit] May

• May 4 - A tornado kills 12 in Greensburg, Kansas, destroying about 90% of the town.
• May 5 - Kenya Airways Flight KQ 507 crashes in Cameroon.
• May 6 - French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy wins the French presidential election, succeeding incumbent President Jacques Chirac 10 days later.
• May 7 - The 2007 Chinese slave scandal is exposed.
• May 9 - Subtropical Storm Andrea forms off the coast of Florida, the earliest since Subtropical Storm Ana in 2003.
• May 15 - The coalition government of Fatah and Hamas in the Palestinian National Authority breaks down, as massive fighting breaks out in Gaza Strip.
• May 16 - The United Nations General Assembly, recognizing that genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, proclaims 2008 the International Year of Languages [1].
• May 17 - The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate re-unite after 80 years of schism.
• May 20 - Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai makes the largest single charitable donation in modern history, committing €7.41 billion to an educational foundation in the Middle East.
• May 20 - Clashes in Tripoli, Lebanon, spark the 2007 Lebanon conflict.
• May 21 - The 19th century ship Cutty Sark is badly damaged by fire in London, UK.
• May 26 - Russia is once again recognized as a full-fledged superpower by the United States.^[13]
• May 27 - Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is taken off the air after the government of Venezuela refuses to renew its license. This action results in protests. On July 16, 2007, RCTV resumes broadcasting via cable and satellite.
• May 31 - A calendar blue moon occurs in the Western Hemisphere and parts of the Eastern Hemisphere.

[edit] June

• June 1 - A 2,100-year-old melon is discovered by archaeologists in western Japan.^[14]
• June 1 - U.S. warships bombard a Somali village where Islamic militants had set up a base.^[15]
• June 2 - Four people are charged in a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York.^[16]
• June 3 - The Valley of Geysers in Russia is destroyed by a mudflow.^[17]
• June 4 - Ten people, including a Californian National Guard officer and former Hmong general, are charged in a plot to overthrow the Laotian Government.^[18][19]
• June 5 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second fly-by of Venus en route to Mercury.
• June 5 - A mass grave in southern Ukraine, found accidentally by workers in May, is confirmed to be filled with thousands of Holocaust victims.^[20]
• June 5 - A train crash near Kerang in Victoria, Australia kills 11 people and injures 23 others.
• June 6 - Twelve people are killed by cyclone Gonu in Oman.
• June 6–8 - The 33rd G8 summit takes place amid strong protests in Heiligendamm, Germany.

Launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis

• June 8 - The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-117.
• June 8 - Storms in the coastal city of Newcastle, New South Wales^[21] kill 9 and flood the city and its surrounding areas.^[22]
• June 18 - Nine Charleston, South Carolina firefighters are killed by a roof collapse while battling a furniture store fire.
• June 22 - An F5 tornado tears through Elie, Manitoba; no injuries are reported.
• June 24 - The refurbished Millennium Dome, now called The O₂, reopens in London.
• June 24 - Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2007: Gordon Brown is elected Leader of the Labour Party UK, succeeding incumbent Tony Blair, and becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 3 days later.
• June 25 - Following the wettest June on record in the United Kingdom, Sheffield and South Yorkshire are affected by flooding. Much of Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham is flooded when the River Don breaches its banks.
• June 27 - The military police of the state of Rio de Janeiro invades the favela of Complexo do Alemão, causing a massacre.
• June 28 - In the aftermath of Greece's worst heatwave in a century, at least 11 people are reported dead from heatstroke, approximately 200 wildfires break out nationwide, and the country's electricity grid nearly collapses due to record breaking demand.
• June 29 - British police defuse a bomb in Haymarket, Central London.^[23]
• June 30 - A Jeep Cherokee drives into the entrance of the main terminal of Glasgow International Airport in an apparent terrorist incident, resulting in a petrol-driven fire.^[24]
• June 30 - A calendar blue moon occurs in most of the Eastern Hemisphere.
• June 30 - The Hawaii Superferry arrives in Honolulu after a 7,600 mile journey from Mobile, Alabama.

[edit] July

• July 1 - Portugal takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Germany.
• July 1 - The Concert For Diana is held at Wembley Stadium to commemorate Diana, Princess of Wales.
• July 2 - Venus and Saturn are in conjunction, separation 46 arcsecs.
• July 3 - Torrential rains cause the onset of the 2007 Sudan floods, the worst in the Sudan's history.
• July 4 - After being held captive for 114 days, BBC journalist Alan Johnston is freed by his Palestinian kidnappers.
• July 7 - Live Earth Concerts are held throughout 9 major cities around the world.
• July 8 - Boeing launches the new Boeing 787.
• July 10 - Zheng Xiaoyu, head of the State Food and Drug Administration of the People's Republic of China, is executed.
• July 12 - Queen Elizabeth II visits the world's largest Commonwealth war grave in Ypres, Belgium to pay respects to fallen soldiers of the Battle of Passchendaele.
• July 14 - Following a presidential decree, Russia withdraws from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
• July 15 - In Tacoma, Washington, the second span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens to traffic, making it the longest twin suspension bridge in the world.
• July 16 - An earthquake in Japan kills 7 and causes a pipe at a nuclear power plant to break, releasing about 300 gallons of radioactive water.^{[citation needed]}
• July 17 - TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 overruns the runway of Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport and crashes, killing all 186 and others on the ground.
• July 18 - Nelson Mandela convenes a group of world leaders to contribute their ideas to tackle some of the world's toughest problems.^{[citation needed]}
• July 19 - Russia expels 4 British embassy staff in a tit-for-tat response over Britain's expulsion of 4 of Russia's diplomats. Russia also refuses to cooperate with Britain over the war on terror.^{[citation needed]}
• July 19 - Prathiba Patil is elected as the first female President of India.
• July 21 - The final book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is released and sells over 11 million copies in the first 24 hours, becoming the fastest selling book in history.^[25]
• July 22 - Floods cause chaos through wide areas of Great Britain, especially the counties of Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Oxfordshire, leaving hundreds homeless and thousands of vehicles stranded on major roads.
• July 22 - A bus carrying 50 Polish pilgrims crashes near Grenoble, France, killing 26 people and injuring 24.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] August

Security camera images show the collapse in animation of the I-35W bridge, looking north.

• August 1 - The I-35W Mississippi River Bridge on I-35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapses at 6:05 pm CST during the later part of rush hour, killing 13 people.
• August 1 - Scouting celebrates its 100th birthday with worldwide celebrations.
• August 1 - In a decision in the Supreme Court of South Australia by Justice Thomas Gray, Bruce Trevorrow, a member of the Stolen Generation, is awarded $775,000 compensation.
• August 3 - Foot and mouth disease is found on a farm at Wanborough, near to Guildford, Surrey. A UK-wide ban on movement of all livestock is put in place the following day.
• August 4 - The Phoenix spacecraft launches toward the Martian north pole.
• August 6 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives in the historic Palestinian town of Jericho, becoming the first Prime Minister of Israel to visit the West Bank or Gaza Strip in over 7 years. Olmert meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
• August 6 - The Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County, Utah collapses, trapping 6 miners.
• August 14 - Multiple suicide bombings kill 572 people in Qahtaniya, northern Iraq.
• August 14 - At least 22 people are killed, and at least 39 missing, as a bridge collapses in the southeastern province of Hunan, China.^{[citation needed]}