2007 in the United States

2007 in the United States
Years:	2004 2005 2006 – 2007 – 2008 2009 2010
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Events from the year 2007 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: George W. Bush (R-Texas)
• Vice President: Dick Cheney (R-Wyoming)
• Chief Justice: John Roberts (New York) ^[1]
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert (R–Illinois) (until January 3), Nancy Pelosi (D–California) (starting January 4)
• Senate Majority Leader: Bill Frist (R–Tennessee) (until January 3), Harry Reid (D–Nevada) (starting January 3)
• Congress: 109th (until January 3), 110th (starting January 3)

Events

January

January 4: Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker of the House.

• January 4
  • William Fallon succeeds Gen. John Abizaid as the head of Central Command in Iraq.
  • Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
• January 9
  • War in Somalia: U.S. planes conduct air strikes in Somalia against suspected terrorists.
  • Steve Jobs publicly announces the release of the first iPhone.^[2]
• January 10 – President Bush announces a plan to station 21,500 additional troops in Iraq.
• January 12 – The U.S. Embassy in Athens is attacked with a rocket propelled grenade, which causes minimal damage and no injuries.
• January 28 – A battle between insurgents and U.S.-backed Iraqi troops kills 300 suspected resistance members in Najaf, Iraq.
• January 30 – Microsoft releases Windows Vista and Office 2007.^[3]
• January 31
  • Delta Air Lines creditors officially reject US Airways' hostile takeover bid.
  • 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.

February

• February 2 – An unseasonal tornado in central Florida kills at least 20 people.
• February 10 – Senator Barack Obama of Illinois declares his candidacy for President of the United States of America
• February 12 – Muslim gunman Sulejman Talović shoots and kills five 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 six.
• 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 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.

March

• March 6 – Mega Millions sets a new world record for the highest lottery jackpot of $370 million.
• March 16 – For the first time in the 23-year history of the modern version of the popular gameshow, Jeopardy!, a three-way tie occurred.

April

April 16: United States President George W. Bush with Virginia Tech Student Government Association President James Tyger after his speech at the school's convocation.

• April 1 – World Wrestling Entertainment put on WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, Michigan.
• 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. Gunman Seung-Hui Cho is able to buy his firearms legally, despite having a record of mental illness, causing a large national debate on guns.
• April 17 – The Pound Sterling hits a 15-year high against the US dollar, breaking through the $2 level for the first time since 1992.
• April 19 – US and allied air forces conduct massive exercises over South Korea with over 500 planes.^[4]
• April 25
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 135.95 points to close at 13089.89; its first close above 13000 in its history.
  • The Burj Khalifa reaches the height of the Sears Tower on its way to becoming the tallest building in the world.
  • Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduces articles to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.^[5]

May

• May 3 – The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Matthew Shepard Act. It is the first time that the House brings a gay rights bill to the floor for a vote.
• May 4
  • Tornado strikes Greensburg, Kansas, killing at least twelve people and destroying about 90% of the town.
  • Executive Directive 51, which specifies the procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a "catastrophic emergency" is signed by President George W. Bush.
• May 9 – Subtropical Storm Andrea forms off the coast of Florida, the earliest since Subtropical Storm Ana in 2003.
• May 31 – A calendar blue moon occurred in the Western Hemisphere and parts of the Eastern Hemisphere.

June

• June 1 – U.S. warships bombard a Somali village where Islamic militants had set up a base.^[6]
• June 2 – Four people are charged with a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York City.^[7]
• June 3 – The Valley of Geysers in Russia was destroyed by a mudflow.^[8]
• June 4 – Ten people, including a Californian National Guard officer and former Hmong general, are charged over plans to overthrow the Laotian Government.^[9][10]
• June 5 – NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft made its second fly-by of Venus en route to Mercury.
• June 8 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis successfully launched on mission STS-117.
• June 14 – The San Antonio Spurs sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the 2007 NBA Finals.
• June 15 – Bob Barker airs his last episode of The Price Is Right.
• June 18 – Nine Charleston, South Carolina firefighters are killed by a roof collapse while battling the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire.
• June 24 – At South Lake Tahoe, California, a wildfire destroys 254 homes in the area.
• June 25
  • WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy Benoit, and son Daniel, are found dead as the result of a murder-suicide that took place over the previous weekend.
  • Groundbreaking begins on the Chicago Spire.
• June 30 – The Hawaii Superferry arrives in Honolulu after a 7,600 mile journey from Mobile, Alabama.

July

July 15: Opening ceremony of the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge

• July 7
  • Venus Williams wins the Women's Singles, at Wimbledon for a fourth time.
  • Live Earth Concerts are held throughout 9 major cities around the world.
• July 8 – Boeing launches the new Boeing 787.
• July 10 – A Cessna 310R twin-engine airplane crashes into two homes in Sanford, Florida, killing three adults and two children.
• 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 18 – At the height of rush hour in New York City, a major steam pipe bursts, releasing millions of gallons of boiling water and super heated steam. Only one fatality occurred; a pedestrian who went into cardiac arrest.
• July 19 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 14,000 for the first time in history.
• July 21 – Vice President Dick Cheney serves as Acting President for two and a half hours, while President George W. Bush undergoes a colonoscopy procedure.

August

August 1:
I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse.

• August 1
  • The I-35W Mississippi River bridge on Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota between University Avenue and Washington Avenue collapses at 6:05 p.m. CST during the later part of rush hour, killing 13 people.
  • Scouting celebrates its 100th birthday with worldwide celebrations.
• August 4 – The Phoenix spacecraft launches toward the Martian north pole.
• August 6 – The Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County, Utah collapses, trapping six miners.
• August 7 – Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's home run record by hitting his 756th home run.
• August 8 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour is successfully launched on mission STS–118.
• August 9 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average loses 387.18 points, its largest single-day drop since February 27.
• August 12 – Tiger Woods wins PGA Championship, his 13th career major.
• August 15 – NBA referee Tim Donaghy surrenders to police and pleads guilty to charges brought up by the FBI investigation that he placed bets on games that he refereed.^[11]
• August 16 – The Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County, Utah, collapses a second time, killing three rescue workers and injuring six more.
• August 18 – The remnants of Tropical Storm Erin re-strengthen into a tropical storm over Oklahoma, causing widespread flooding and wind damage.
• August 21 – STS–118 lands at the Kennedy Space Center, completing Space Shuttle Endeavour's 19th flight.
• August 22 – The Texas Rangers score thirty runs in one game, setting the modern (post–1900) MLB record for most runs by one team in a single game, in a 30 – 3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
• August 27 – United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation, to be effective September 17.
• August 30 – 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident in which a B–52 flew from Minot AFB, North Dakota to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana carrying 6 nuclear warheads.

September

• September 15 – Over 3,000 Taiwanese Americans and their supporters rally in front of the UN in New York City to demand that the UN accept Taiwan. At the same time, over 300,000 Taiwanese people rally in Taiwan to make the same plea.
• September 25 – Halo 3 is released, breaking all previous records in entertainment history by generating $170 million in the first 24 hours of release.

October

October 20 – November 9: Flames burn Santa Clarita, California during the California wildfires of October 2007.

• October 7 – Off duty police officer Tyler Peterson kills 6 people at a house party in Crandon, Wisconsin before committing suicide.
• October 9 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits an all-time high of 14,164 before beginning to decline ahead of the start of the late–2000s recession.
• October 10 – The SuccessTech Academy school shooting occurs in Cleveland, Ohio.
• October 15 – Drew Carey debuts as host of The Price Is Right replacing the retired Bob Barker.
• October 18 – In New York City, one of the world's leading art galleries, the Salander/O'Reilly Galleries, is forced into closure amidst scandal and lawsuits.
• October 20 – Georgia's governor Sonny Perdue declares a state of emergency due to drought conditions.
• October 20 – November 9 – Wildfires in Southern California result in the evacuation of more than 1,000,000 people and destroying over 1,600 homes and businesses.
• October 26 – Apple Inc. launch the sixth major release of their Mac OS X operating system entitled, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
• October 28 – The Boston Red Sox win the 2007 World Series in a four-game sweep against the Colorado Rockies.
• October 31 – World Economic Forum releases The Global Competitiveness Report 2007–2008.

November

• November 3 – DARPA Grand Challenge, a prized competition for driverless cars to navigate safely in traffic is scheduled.
• November 4 – Daylight saving time in the United States and most of Canada will end, one week later than the previous schedule, in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
• November 5 – The Writers Guild of America goes on strike.
• November 6 – Legislative elections are held in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia; Kentucky and Mississippi also hold gubernatorial elections.
• November 8 – The 8th annual Latin Grammy Awards were held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
• November 27 – The Annapolis Conference, a peace conference trying to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, is held in Annapolis, Maryland.
• November 30 – The 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially ended.

December

• December
  • The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) controversially expresses "high confidence" that Iran's nuclear weapons program has not operated since 2003.
  • The late-2000s recession officially begins; Unemployment Rate is 5%.
• December 3 – Winter Storms bring record amounts of rain fall in the Pacific Northwest, causing flooding and closing a 20–mile portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars in damages occur in Washington.
• December 4 – The United States Senate approves the Peru Free Trade Agreement.
• December 5 – Robert A. Hawkins shoots 8 people dead and injures 5 at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, then commits suicide.
• December 9 – Matthew Murray goes on a killing spree targeting Christians in Colorado. Murray kills 4 before being shot by an off duty police officer. He then commits suicide.
• December 13 – Former U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell publicly releases a report, accusing 89 retired and active Major League Baseball players of anabolic steroid use.
• December 19 – An explosion and fire at the T2 Laboratories facility in Jacksonville, Florida kills four and injures 14.
• December 20
  • In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Tom Tancredo withdraws and endorses Mitt Romney.
  • A group of activist Lakota people send a letter to the United States State Department, declaring their secession from the Union as the Republic of Lakotah.
• December 25 – An escaped tiger kills one person and injures two others at the San Francisco Zoo.

Ongoing

• War in Afghanistan (2001–2014)
• Iraq War (2003–2011)
• Late-2000s recession (2007–2009)

Births

Deaths

See also

• 2007 in American television
• List of American films of 2007

References

External links

• Media related to 2007 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons