2007 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal government

• President: George W. Bush
• Vice President: Dick Cheney
• Chief Justice: John Roberts
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dennis Hastert , Nancy Pelosi
• Senate Majority Leader: Bill Frist , Harry Reid
• Congress: 109th, 110th

  Governors

Lieutenant governors

Events

January

• January 4
• * William J. 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 6 - Young couple Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom are carjacked, kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered in Knoxville, Tennessee by a gang of four black men and one woman. The case and its relative lack of coverage by the media resulted in debate about hate crimes in which white people were the victims and the reluctance of the mainstream media to report black-on-white crimes.
• January 9
• *War in Somalia: U.S. warplanes conduct air strikes in Somalia against suspected terrorists.
• * Steve Jobs publicly announces the release of the first iPhone.
• 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.
• *A convenience store in Ghent, West Virginia, explodes due to a propane leak, killing four people and injuring several others.
• 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 occurs.

  April

• April 1 - World Wrestling Entertainment holds 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 Yen dollar, breaking through the $2 level for the first time since 1992.
• April 19 - U.S. and allied air forces conduct massive exercises over South Korea with over 500 planes.
• 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.
• * President George W. Bush announces the U.S. will increase efforts to combat malaria in Africa.

  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
• *Tornadoes strike Greensburg, Kansas, killing at least 12 people and destroying about 90% of the town.
• * Executive Directive 51, which specified s 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.
• June 2 - Four people are charged with a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York City.
• June 3 - The Valley of Geysers in Russia was destroyed by a mudflow.
• June 4 - Ten people, including a Californian National Guard officer and former Hmong general, are charged over plans to overthrow the Laotian Government.
• 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 - In 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 29 - The first iPhone is released for sale in the U.S.
• June 30 - The Hawaii Superferry arrives in Honolulu after a 7,600 mile journey from Mobile, Alabama.

  July

• 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 22 - 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
• * 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.
• 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 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 26 - Halo 3 is released, breaking all previous records in entertainment history by generating $170 million in the first 24 hours of release.

  October

• October 7 - Off-duty police officer Tyler Peterson kills six 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. launches the sixth major release of their Mac OS X operating system, 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 are 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 ends.

  December

• December
• * The National Intelligence Estimate 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 four 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
• Iraq War
• Late-2000s recession

  Births

• May 22 - Austin Barlow, author
• June 6 - Colin Coleman, actress

  Deaths

January

• January 1
• * Ernie Koy, American baseball player
• * Darrent Williams, American football player and murder victim
• * Julius Hegyi, American conductor
• * Tad Jones, American music historian
• * Del Reeves, American country singer
• January 2 - Robert C. Solomon, American philosopher, author, and academic
• January 4
• * Steve Krantz, American film producer
• * Bob Milliken, American baseball player
• January 6 - Mario Danelo, American college football player
• January 7 - Bobby Hamilton, race car driver
• January 8 - Yvonne de Carlo, Canadian-born American actress
• January 11 - Robert Anton Wilson, writer, philosopher, psychologist, editor, and poet
• January 12 - Alice Coltrane, musician and composer
• January 13 - Michael Brecker, musician and composer
• January 14 - Darlene Conley, actress
• January 16 - Benny Parsons, race car driver and television announcer and analyst
• January 17 - Art Buchwald, humorist
• January 19 - Bam Bam Bigelow, wrestler
• January 19 - Dennis Doherty, member of The Mamas and The Papas b. 1940
• January 20 - Dan Christensen, painter
• January 22 - Liz Renay, actress
• January 23
• * E. Howard Hunt, intelligence officer
• * Disco D, producer and DJ
• January 25 - Charlotte Reid, singer and politician
• January 27 - Tige Andrews, actor
• January 28 - Emma Tillman, supercentenarian
• January 30 - Sidney Sheldon, writer and screenwriter
• January 31
• * Lee Bergere, actor
• * Molly Ivins, columnist, political commentator, humorist, and writer

  February

• February 1
• * Ray Berres, baseball player
• * Emery Bopp, artist and art teacher
• February 2 - Eric Von Schmidt, folk musician
• February 4
• * Steve Barber, baseball player
• * Barbara McNair, actress
• February 6
• * Frankie Laine, singer, songwriter, and actor
• * Willye White, Olympic track and field athlete
• February 7
• * Tommy James, football player
• * Ken Kennedy, computer scientist
• * Josephine Lenard, baseball player
• February 8
• * Joe Edwards, comic book artist
• * Anna Nicole Smith, actress and notable United States Supreme Court litigant
• * Harriett Woods, politician
• February 9 - Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager
• February 10 - Cardis Cardell Willis, American comic
• February 11 - Charles Langford, American politician
• February 12 - Peggy Gilbert, American bandleader
• February 13
• * Bruce M. Metzger, American biblical scholar
• * Charlie Norwood American politician
• February 15 - Walker Edmiston, American actor
• February 16 - Gene Snyder, American politician
• February 17 - Mike Awesome, American wrestler
• February 18
• * Barbara Gittings, American LGBT activist
• * Bob Oksner, American comic book artist
• February 19 - Janet Blair, American big-band singer
• February 22
• * Avrohom Blumenkrantz, American Orthodox rabbi
• * Dennis Johnson, American basketball player
• February 23 - Donnie Brooks, American pop singer
• February 24 - Bruce Bennett, American actor and athlete
• February 25 - William Anderson, American naval officer and politician
• February 27 - Elbie Nickel, American Football player
• February 28 - Robert Kingston, American army general

  March

• March 4
• * Thomas Eagleton, American politician
• * Bob Hattoy, American activist
• March 6 – Allen Coage, American professional wrestler
• March 8 – Christopher Barrios Jr., murder victim
• March 9 – Brad Delp, American singer
• March 10
• * Ernie Ladd, American football player and professional wrestler
• * Richard Jeni, stand up comedian
• March 11 – Betty Hutton, American actress
• March 19 – Calvert DeForest, American actor and comedian
• March 20 – Gilbert E. Patterson, American bishop
• March 23 – Eric Medlen, American race car driver
• March 28
• * Abe Coleman, Polish-born American wrestler
• * Bill Fisk, American football player and coach
• * Tony Scott, American musician

  April

• April 3 – Eddie Robinson, American football coach
• April 4 – Bob Clark, American film director
• April 5
• * Thomas Stoltz Harvey Pathologist who conducted Albert Einstein's autopsy
• * Darryl Stingley, American football player
• April 7
• * Johnny Hart, American cartoonist
• * Barry Nelson, American actor
• April 11
• * Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor
• * Ronald Speirs, United States Army officer
• * Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist and playwright
• April 14 – Don Ho, American musician
• April 16 – Seung-Hui Cho, South Korean terrorist
• April 17 – Kitty Carlisle Hart, American singer, actress & talk show panelist
• April 22 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American politician
• April 26 – Jack Valenti, American film executive, creator of MPAA film rating system
• April 28 – Dabbs Greer, American actor
• April 30
• * Tom Poston, American actor
• * Gordon Scott, American actor

  May

• May 3 – Wally Schirra, American astronaut
• May 5 – Theodore Maiman, American physicist
• May 9 – Edith Rodriguez, medical patient
• May 12 – Teddy Infuhr, actor
• May 15
• * Jerry Falwell, American evangelist
• * Yolanda King, American actress and activist, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• May 17 – Lloyd Alexander, American author
• May 20 – Stanley Miller, American chemist and biologist
• May 28
• * Marquise Hill, American football player
• * David Lane, American white nationalist

  June

• June 1 – Arn Shein, journalist
• June 4 – Craig L. Thomas, American politician
• June 11 – Mala Powers, American film actress
• June 12 – Don Herbert, American television personality, Mr. Wizard
• June 14 – Ruth Bell Graham, Wife of Billy Graham
• June 15 – Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler
• June 22 – Nancy Benoit, wrestling valet and manager, and wife and murder victim of Chris Benoit
• June 23 – Rod Beck, American baseball player
• June 24 – Chris Benoit, Canadian wrestler, and husband and murderer of Nancy Benoit

  July

• July 2
• * Beverly Sills, American soprano
• * Hy Zaret, American lyricist and composer
• July 3 – Boots Randolph, American saxophone player
• July 4
• * Johnny Frigo, American jazz violinist and bassist
• * Bill Pinkney, American singer
• July 9 – Charles Lane, American actor
• July 11
• * Lady Bird Johnson, wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States
• * Shag Crawford, American umpire in Major League Baseball
• July 22 – László Kovács, Hungarian-American cinematographer
• July 23 – Benjamin Libet, American pioneering scientist in the field of human consciousness
• July 24
• * Albert Ellis, American psychologist
• * Riley Ann Sawyers, murder victim
• July 29 – Tom Snyder, American talk show host
• July 30 – Bill Walsh, American football coach

  August

• August 5 – Oliver Hill, American lawyer
• August 12 – Merv Griffin, American singer, television producer and land developer
• August 13
• * Brooke Astor, American socialite and philanthropist
• * Phil Rizzuto, American baseball player and announcer
• August 15 – John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate
• August 16 – Max Roach, American percussionist, drummer, and composer
• August 17 – Eddie Griffin, American basketball player
• August 18 – Michael Deaver, American political adviser
• August 20 – Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor
• August 29 – Richard Jewell, American falsely accused of bombing the Centennial Olympic Park

  September

• September 2 – Marcia Mae Jones, actress
• September 3 – Steve Fossett, businessman, aviator, and sailer, missing person declared-dead in absentia
• September 10 – Jane Wyman, American actress, first wife of Ronald Reagan
• September 15 – Brett Somers, American actress
• September 20 – Mahlon Clark, American musician
• September 21
• * Neveah Gallegos, murder victim
• * Alice Ghostley, American actress
• * Rex Humbard, American evangelist

  October

• October 1 – Al Oerter, American athlete
• October 6 – Jo Ann Davis, American politician
• October 11 – Sri Chinmoy, Indian philosopher
• October 14 – Big Moe, American rapper
• October 17
• * Joey Bishop, American entertainer
• * Teresa Brewer, American singer
• * Suzy Covey, American scholar
• October 18 – William J. Crowe, American military commander and ambassador
• October 26
• * Friedman Paul Erhardt, German-American television chef
• * Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist
• October 28 – Porter Wagoner, American country singer
• October 30 – Robert Goulet, American entertainer

  November

• November 1 – Paul Tibbets, American general, pilot of the Enola Gay
• November 2 – The Fabulous Moolah, American professional wrestler
• November 3 – Ryan Shay, American runner
• November 6 – Hank Thompson, American country singer
• November 10
• * Laraine Day, American actress
• * Augustus F. Hawkins, American politician and civil rights lawmaker
• * Norman Mailer, American writer
• November 11 – Delbert Mann, American film and television director
• November 12 – Ira Levin, American novelist
• November 15 – Joe Nuxhall, American baseball player and announcer
• November 16 – Harold Alfond, businessman
• November 24 – Casey Calvert, musician
• November 25 – Kevin DuBrow, musician
• November 27
• * Sean Taylor, American football player
• * Robert Cade, American physician and inventor of the beverage Gatorade
• * Bill Willis, American football player
• November 29
• * Henry Hyde, American politician
• * Roger Bonham Smith, American businessman
• November 30 – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle daredevil

  December

• December 2
• * Robert O. Anderson, American businessman
• * Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic and novelist
• December 4
• * Pimp C, American rapper
• * Chip Reese, American professional gambler
• December 12
• * Shawn Eckardt, bodyguard and businessman
• * Ike Turner, American musician
• December 15 – Julia Carson, American politician
• December 16 – Dan Fogelberg, American singer and songwriter
• December 18 – Bill Strauss, American satirist, author and historian
• December 21
• * Carol Bly, Teacher, award-winning American author of short stories, essays, and nonfiction
• * Ken Hendricks, American businessman, founded ABC Supply
• December 23 – Michael Kidd, American choreographer
• December 31 – Michael Goldberg, American abstract expressionist painter