What Happened in 2007 — Events, Births & Deaths

Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.

Adam Air Flight 574 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes near the Makassar Strait, Indonesia, killing all 102 people on board.

The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.

A general strike begins in Guinea in an attempt to get President Lansana Conté to resign.

Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), one of the brightest comets ever observed is at its zenith visible during the day.

The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's nuclear testing.

The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Cyclone Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe.

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated in front of his newspaper's Istanbul office by 17-year-old Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogün Samast.

Four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.

At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.

Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista, a major release of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the NT based kernel.

Emergency officials in Boston mistakenly identify battery-powered LED placards depicting characters from Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), causing a panic.

The National Weather Service in the United States switches from the Fujita scale to the new Enhanced Fujita scale to measure the intensity and strength of tornadoes.

Police officer Filippo Raciti is killed when a clash breaks out in the Sicily derby between Catania and Palermo, in the Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. This event led to major changes in stadium regulations in Italy.

A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.

Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.

A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 88. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.

Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.

Chinese stock bubble of 2007: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest daily fall in ten years, following speculation about a crackdown on illegal share offerings and trading, and fears about accelerating inflation.

Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20 people, including eight at Enterprise High School.

Reform of the House of Lords: The British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of Lords, 100% elected.

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 crashes at Adisutjipto International Airport in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, killing 21 people.

The Nandigram violence in Nandigram, West Bengal, results in the deaths of at least 14 people.

Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record of 574.8 km/h (159.6 m/s, 357.2 mph).

The cruise ship MS Sea Diamond strikes a volcanic reef near Nea Kameni and sinks the next day. Two passengers were never recovered and are presumed dead.

Algiers bombings: Two bombings in Algiers kill 33 people and wound a further 222 others.

A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.

Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho murders 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.

Johnson Space Center shooting: William Phillips barricades himself with a handgun in NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, before killing a male hostage and himself.

Boris Yeltsin's funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.

Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.

Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.

The three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Portugal, starting "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history".

Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by the 2007 Greensburg tornado, a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.

Kenya Airways Flight 507 crashes after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 114 aboard, making it the deadliest aircraft disaster in Cameroon.

Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.

President of Romania Traian Băsescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.

A mass shooting starts in Moscow, Idaho, which would leave 3 non-shooters dead and 3 more injured, before the shooter committed suicide the next day.

Cyclone Gonu develops from an area of convection in the Arabian Sea, becoming the worst recorded natural disaster in Oman.

Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is hit by the State's worst storms and flooding in 30 years, resulting in the death of nine people and the grounding of a trade ship, the MV Pasha Bulker.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-117 carrying two truss segments and solar arrays to the International Space Station.

Mudslides in Chittagong, Bangladesh, kill 130 people.

The Al Askari Mosque is bombed for a second time.

The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire kills nine firefighters in Charleston, South Carolina.

The al-Khilani Mosque bombing in Baghdad leaves 78 people dead and another 218 injured.

The small town of Elie, Manitoba is hit by Canada's most intense tornado on record.

PMTair Flight 241 crashes in the Dâmrei Mountains in Kampot Province, Cambodia, killing all 22 people on board.

Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.

Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997. Chancellor Gordon Brown succeeds him.

The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.

Apple Inc. releases its first mobile phone, the iPhone.

A Jeep Cherokee filled with propane canisters drives into the entrance of Glasgow Airport, Scotland in a failed terrorist attack. This was linked to the 2007 London car bombs that had taken place the day before.

Smoking bans in the United Kingdom culminate in a prohibition on smoking in all public indoor spaces in England.

The first Live Earth benefit concert was held in 11 locations around the world.

Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.

The Pakistani military storms the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad, which had been seized by Islamist militants.

The Siege of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, ends after the Pakistan Army storms the mosque which had been occupied by Islamist militants.

U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant.

TAM Airlines Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, crashes into a warehouse after landing too fast and missing the end of the São Paulo–Congonhas Airport runway, killing 199 people.

Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first female president.

Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.

The I-35W Mississippi River bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Former deputy director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga is captured after having been on the run following a conviction for kidnapping.

NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is launched.

At AT&T Park, Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record.

An EF2 tornado touches down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.

Space Shuttle program: STS-118 Mission: Endeavour takes off on a mission to the International Space Station.

Air Moorea Flight 1121 crashes after takeoff from Moorea Airport in French Polynesia, killing all 20 people on board.

The Kahtaniya bombings kill at least 500 people.

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru, killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

China Airlines Flight 120 catches fire and explodes after landing at Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan.

The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history.

The skeletal remains of Russia's last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Three terrorists suspected to be a part of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on both the Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.

Israel executes the air strike Operation Orchard to destroy a nuclear reactor in Syria.

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.

Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs.

Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of plunder.

Two earthquakes measuring 8.4 and 7.9 on the Richter Scale hits the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing 25 people and injuring 161.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

The McLaren F1 team are found guilty of possessing confidential information from the Ferrari team, fined $100 million, and excluded from the constructors' championship standings.

Prelude to the 2008 financial crisis: Northern Rock bank experiences the first bank run in the United Kingdom in 150 years.

One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269 carrying 130 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand, killing 90 people.

Security guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot and kill 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad.

Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some call the Saffron Revolution.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate.

Between 30,000 and 100,000 people take part in anti-government protests in Yangon, Burma, the largest in 20 years.

NASA launches the Dawn probe to the asteroid belt.

Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station, is demolished in a controlled explosion.

President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea goes to North Korea for an Inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth.

The battle of Mirali begins in which the Pakistan Armed Forces and Taliban militias clash for four days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its all-time high of 14,164 points before rapidly declining due to the 2008 financial crisis.

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becomes the first Malaysian in space on board Soyuz TMA-11.

Seventeen activists in New Zealand are arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids.

Karachi bombing: A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto kills 139 and wounds 450 more. Bhutto herself is uninjured.

Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen of Scuderia Ferrari won the Brazilian Grand Prix in Formula One. With this result, Räikkönen became world champion, surpassing McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point in the drivers' standings.

A raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base is carried out by 21 Tamil Tiger commandos, with all except one dying in this attack. Eight Sri Lanka Air Force planes are destroyed and ten damaged.

A storm causes the Mexican Kab 101 oil platform to collide with a wellhead, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after evacuation of the platform.

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-120, with Pamela Melroy becoming the second female space shuttle commander.

Chang'e 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, is launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first directly elected female President of Argentina.

China's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1, goes into orbit around the Moon.

The Android mobile operating system is unveiled by Google.

The Jokela school shooting in Jokela, Tuusula, Finland, takes place, resulting in the death of nine people.

Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.

MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sinks in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. There are no fatalities.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to the Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny.

Atlasjet Flight 4203 crashes in Keçiborlu while on approach to Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport, killing 57.

Winter storms cause the Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, and close a 32-kilometre (20 mi) portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars in damages are blamed on the floods.

Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.

Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.

The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009.

Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.

The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil. Both will be recovered a few weeks later.

An agreement is made for the Kingdom of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state.

A Siberian tiger named Tatania escapes her exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo and attacks three people, killing one and injuring two more.

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a shooting incident.

Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.

Ian Subiabre, Argentine footballer

Chloe Chua, Singaporean violinist, 2018 joint 1st prize winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists

Luke Littler, English darts player

Pau Cubarsí, Spanish footballer

That Girl Lay Lay, American rapper

Diego Aguado, Spanish footballer

Ryan Coleman-Williams, American football player

Leeseo, South Korean singer

Miya Cech, American actress

Roman Griffin Davis, English actor

Kiyan Anthony, American basketball player

Ethan Nwaneri, English footballer

Jesús Fortea, Spanish footballer

Brenda Fruhvirtová, Czech tennis player

Ben Kindel, Canadian ice hockey player

Princess Isabella of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark

Mirra Andreeva, Russian tennis player

Infanta Sofía of Spain, Spanish princess

El Ma, Bulgarian singer-songwriter

Rayane Messi, French footballer

Bryce James, American basketball player

Nanou Philips, Belgian ASMR social media personality

Elliana Walmsley, American dancer

Casey Phair, South Korean footballer

Mason Thames, American actor

Lamine Yamal, Spanish footballer

Cameron Boozer, American basketball player

Franco Mastantuono, Argentine footballer

Piper Rockelle, American model and singer

Ariana Greenblatt, American actress

Matthew Schaefer, Canadian ice hockey player

Leonardo Puglisi, Australian journalist

Yoonchae Jeung, South Korean singer

Gavin McKenna, Canadian ice hockey player

Bobby Hamilton, American race car driver and businessman (born 1957)

Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and activist (born 1954)

Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian sociologist and politician (born 1928)

Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (born 1916)

İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1940)

Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian academic and politician (born 1956)

Emiliano Mercado del Toro, Puerto Rican-American soldier (born 1891)

Kirill Babitzin, Finnish singer, 9th in 1984 Eurovision Song Contest (born 1950), aortic aneurysm.

Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (born 1944)

Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (born 1929)

Leo T. McCarthy, New Zealand-American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (born 1930)

Walker Edmiston, American actor (born 1925)

Ray Evans, American songwriter (born 1915)

George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, English politician, Leader of the House of Lords (born 1918)

Dennis Johnson, American basketball player and coach (born 1954)

Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (born 1906)

Damien Nash, American football player (born 1982)

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (born 1917)

Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1919)

Clem Labine, American baseball player (born 1926)

Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist (born 1956)

John Inman, English actor (born 1935)

John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach (born 1947)

Brad Delp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1951)

Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1921)

Ernie Ladd, American football player and wrestler (born 1938)

Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (born 1925)

Lucie Aubrac, French educator and activist (born 1912)

John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (born 1924)

Nancy Adams, New Zealand botanist and illustrator (born 1926)

Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1929)

Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (born 1910)

Jean-Pierre Cassel, French actor (born 1932)

Andrew Hill, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1931)

Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (born 1931)

Robert Rosenthal World War II B 17 Commander Pilot who also served on the Nuremburg Trials (born 1917)

Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (born 1938)

Jack Valenti, American businessman, created the MPAA film rating system (born 1921)

Theodore Harold Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer, created the laser (born 1927)

Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (born 1958)

Diego Corrales, American boxer (born 1977)

Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (born 1926)

Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (born 1935)

Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (born 1913)

Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (born 1924)

Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (born 1970)

Tony Thompson, American singer and songwriter (born 1975)

Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (born 1949)

Huang Ju, Chinese engineer and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1938)

Hugo Corro, Argentine boxer (born 1953)

Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1919)

Alberto Mijangos, Mexican-American painter and educator (born 1925)

Terry Hoeppner, American football player and coach (born 1947)

Ze'ev Schiff, Israeli journalist and author (born 1932)

Bob Evans, American businessman, founded Bob Evans Restaurants (born 1918)

Erik Parlevliet, Dutch field hockey player (born 1964)

William Hutt, Canadian actor (born 1920)

Sahib Singh Verma, Indian librarian and politician, 4th Chief Minister of Delhi (born 1943)

Régine Crespin, French soprano (born 1927)

George Melly, English singer-songwriter and critic (born 1926)

Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, American author (born 1939)

Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (born 1927)

Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1929)

Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian pianist and composer (born 1913)

Richard Bradshaw, English conductor and director (born 1944)

John Gofman, American biologist, chemist, and physicist (born 1918)

Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand physician (born 1908)

Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman (born 1925)

Bill Deedes, English journalist and politician (born 1913)

James Muir Cameron Fletcher, New Zealand businessman (born 1914)

Richard Jewell, American police officer (born 1962)

Bill Wirtz, American businessman (born 1929)

Tex Coulter, American football player (born 1924)

George Grizzard, American actor (born 1928)

Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (born 1902)

Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (born 1975)

Constantine Andreou, Greek painter and sculptor (born 1917)

David Lee "Tex" Hill, South Korean-American general and pilot (born 1915)

Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (born 1915)

Piet Boukema, Dutch jurist and politician (born 1933)

Robert Goulet, American actor and singer (born 1933)

Linda S. Stein, American businesswoman and manager (born 1945)

John Woodruff, American runner and colonel (born 1915)

Aleksandr Dedyushko, Belarusian-Russian actor (born 1962)

Hilda Braid, English actress and singer (born 1929)

Wahab Akbar, Filipino lawyer and politician (born 1960)

John Doherty, English footballer and manager (born 1935)

Kazuhisa Inao, Japanese baseball player and manager (born 1937)

Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss dancer, choreographer, and director (born 1927)

Verity Lambert, English television producer (born 1935)

Silvestre S. Herrera, Mexican-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1917)

Mel Tolkin, Russian-Canadian screenwriter and producer (born 1913)

Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (born 1922)

James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor (born 1948)

Pimp C, American rapper (born 1973)

François al-Hajj, Lebanese general (born 1953)

Ike Turner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1931)

Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1951)

Charles Court, Australian politician, 21st Premier of Western Australia (born 1911)