January 2007 in History

Events in History

Nancy Pelosi Elected 1st Female Speaker

Jan 4 The 110th United States Congress convenes and elects Nancy Pelosi as the 1st female Speaker of the House

Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone

Jan 9 Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs announces the iPhone

Harry Potter Finished

Jan 11 Author J. K. Rowling finishes the 7th and last Harry Potter novel in room 552 of the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh

Jan 12 Comet McNaught reaches perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years.
Jan 13 Two thirds of the Venus's southern hemisphere suddenly brightened as something triggered aerosols to form at a furious rate.

Hero of the Nation Marina Popovich

Jan 14 Legendary Russian test pilot Marina Popovich is awarded the honorary title "The Hero of the Nation" by the Russian Federation

Jan 15 Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Jan 15 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel about the Biafran War, "Half of a Yellow Sun", is published

Jan 17 Doomsday Clock set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea's 1st nuclear test
Jan 18 Hurricane Kyrill: kills at least 44 in Western Europe: strongest British storm in 17 years kills 14 people, worst German storm since 1999 with 13 deaths and causes container Ship MSC Napoli to be destroyed off coast of Devon
Jan 19 Armenian journalist Hrant Dink assassinated in front of his "Agos" newspaper's office by 17 year old Turkish ultranationalist Ogün Samast
Jan 21 Awashima Marine Park in Japan catches a video tape of the rare frilled shark.
Jan 22 The jury portion of the trial against Robert Pickton, accused of being Canada's worst serial killer, opens in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
Jan 31 Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq

Deaths in History

Jan 1 Leon Davidson, American scientist known for studying UFOs, dies at 84
Jan 1 Leonard Fraser, Australian serial killer, dies of a heart attack at 55
Jan 1 Roland Levinsky, South African medical scientist, dies at 63
Jan 1 Tillie Olsen, American writer (Tell Me a Riddle), dies at 94
Jan 2 A. Richard Newton, Australian-born technology pioneer & professor, dies at 55
Jan 2 David Perkins, Stanford University geneticist, dies at 87
Jan 2 Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, American historian, dies at 65
Jan 2 Garry Betty, American CEO of Earthlink, dies at 49
Jan 2 Mauno Jokipii, Finnish professor & World War II researcher, dies at 82
Jan 2 Paek Nam-sun, North Korean Foreign Affairs minister, dies at 77
Jan 2 Robert C. Solomon, American scholar of continental philosophy, dies at 64
Jan 2 Teddy Kollek, Israeli politician (Mayor of Jerusalem), dies at 95
Jan 3 Michael Yeats, Irish Fianna Fáil senator 1961-1981 and son of W.B. Yeats (b. 1921)
Jan 3 Sir Cecil Walker, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast 1983-2001 (b. 1924)
Jan 3 William Verity Jr., United States Secretary of Commerce 1987-1989 (b. 1917)
Jan 4 Ben Gannon, Australian theatre film and television producer (b. 1952)

Jan 4 Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet and writer (b. 1949)
Jan 4 Gren, Welsh newspaper cartoonist (b. 1934)
Jan 4 Marais Viljoen, former State President of South Africa (b. 1915)
Jan 4 Osman Waqialla, Sudanese artist and calligrapher (b. 1925)
Jan 4 Sir Lewis Hodges, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1918)
Jan 5 Chih Ree Sun, Chinese-American physicist and poet. dies of kidney and lung cancer at 83 [1]

Momofuku Ando (1910-2007)

Jan 5 Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant noodles and cup noodles, dies of heart failure at 96

Jan 6 Roberta Wohlstetter, military historian and strategist (b. 1912)
Jan 8 Arthur Cockfield 'The Father of the Single Market, British politician '(European Commissioner), dies at 90
Jan 8 David Ervine, Northern Irish politician (b. 1953)
Jan 8 Jane Bolin, first African American female judge, dies at 98
Jan 10 Bradford Washburn, American explorer and cartographer, dies at 96
Jan 11 Robert Anton Wilson, American author (b. 1932)
Jan 12 Sir James Killen, Australian politician (b. 1925)
Jan 15 Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court (b. 1945) (executed)
Jan 15 Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (b. 1908)
Jan 15 James Hillier, Canadian-American inventor (co-created the electron microscope), dies at 91
Jan 15 Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino writer and diplomat (b. 1905)
Jan 17 Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian politician (b. 1951)
Jan 19 Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and newspaper editor (Agos), shot by an assassin at 52
Jan 20 Anatol Rapoport, Ukrainian-American mathematician and biologist (game theory), dies at 95
Jan 21 U;Nee, Korean pop artist (b. 1981)
Jan 22 Abbé Pierre, French priest (b. 1912)
Jan 22 Doug Blasdell, American personal trainer
Jan 22 Ngô Quang Trưởng, South Vietnamese general (b. 1929)
Jan 23 E. Howard Hunt, American intelligence officer involved in Watergate break-in, dies at 88
Jan 23 Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist and writer (b. 1932)
Jan 23 Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian Politician (b. 1928)
Jan 24 Emiliano Mercado del Toro, World's oldest living man 2004-2007, dies at 115
Jan 24 Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian politician (b. 1956)
Jan 26 Hans J. Wegner, Danish furniture designer (b. 1914)
Jan 28 Emma Tillman, the world's oldest living person from January 24-28, 2007 (b. 1892)
Jan 28 Father Robert Drinan, Roman Catholic Priest and American politician (b. 1920)
Jan 28 Sterling Lanier, American writer (Hiero's Journey), dies at 79
Jan 29 Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, Iraqi extremist leader (b. 1970)
Jan 31 Adelaide Tambo, South African anti-apartheid activist, politician and wife of Oliver Tambo, dies at 77
Jan 31 Molly Ivins, American political columnist and author, dies at 62