2007
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
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| 2007 by topic |
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2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. It is the 7th year in the 21st century and in the 3rd millennium, both of which began on January 1, 2001.
As opposed to years in the 20th century and previous, there is no generally accepted way to pronounce 2007. Though the year is usually pronounced as "two thousand (and) seven", some prefer "twenty oh-seven", as per the convention for 1907.
The year 2007 has been designated:
- In the Chinese calendar, dates from February 18 onwards are in the Year of the Pig.
- International Polar Year[1]
- International Heliophysical Year[2]
- European Year of Equal Opportunities for All[3]
- Year of the Dolphin[4]
UNESCO has formally recognized fifteen anniversaries for 2007.[5]
Events
January
- January 1 - Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union.
- January 1 - The Irish language becomes an official and working language of 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 UN Secretary-General, replacing Kofi Annan.
- 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 3 - Former U.S. president Gerald Ford is buried in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- January 3 - China conducted an anti-terror raid in Xinjiang.
- January 4 - Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House in the United States.
- January 5 - War in Somalia: The first shots are fired in the battle for control of the border town of Ras Kamboni.
- January 8 - Russian oil supplies to Poland, Germany, and Ukraine are cut as the Russia-Belarus energy dispute escalates; restored 3 days later.
- January 9 - The 2007 MacWorld Expo opens in San Francisco. Apple Computer unveils the iPhone, a mobile phone/iPod hybrid.
- January 9 - War in Somalia: U.S. planes conduct air strikes against suspected terrorists, possibly having killed senior Al Qaeda operative Fazul Abdullah Mohammed.
- January 9 - An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crashes in Balad, Iraq. The Islamic Army in Iraq claims to have shot it down.
- January 10 - U.S. President George W. Bush announces a plan to station 21,500 additional troops into 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 tests a ground-based ballistic missile that destroys one of its own weather satellites, the Fengyun, in space, 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 US Embassy in Athens is attacked with a rocket propelled grenade, which causes minimal damage and no injuries.
- 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 officially adopts the Red Crystal as a non-religious emblem for use in its overseas operations.
- January 14 - Nazanin Fatehi, a 19 year old Iranian girl previously sentenced to death for killing a man she claimed tried to rape her, is exonerated, as her re-trial comes to an end.
- January 15 - The Sentosa Express monorail opens in Singapore.
- January 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.
- 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 alleged to have been racially abusive towards Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
- January 18 - Comet McNaught, the brightest comet to appear in over 40 years, becames visible over the Southern Hemisphere.
- January 19 - Israel released 100 million [citation needed] in frozen assets to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority in order to bolster the president's position.
- January 22 - A bombing in a market in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 88 people.
- January 23 - United States President, George W. Bush, gives the annual State of the Union Address.
- 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 terrorists in Najaf, Iraq.
- January 29 - A suicide bomber kills 3 people in a bakery in Eilat, Israel.
- January 30 - Microsoft releases their latest Windows operating system (Windows Vista) to home users.
- 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 officially reject US Airways' hostile takeover bid.
- January 31 - The Mooninite scare occurs in Boston when devices used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for a film are mistaken for improvised explosive devices.
- January 31 - Lord Levy, a UK Labour Party fundraiser, is re-arrested for conspiracy in relation to the 'cash for peerages' investigation.
February
- February 1 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is questioned for a second time in the 'cash for peerages' 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.
- February 3 - 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 injured a further 339 others.
- February 4 - The Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI, played at Dolphin Stadium, Miami.
- February 10 - U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois announces a presidential bid in Springfield.
- February 11 - Portuguese voters agree to legalise abortion in a national referendum.
- February 11 - The 49th Annual Grammy Awards take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
- February 13 - Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.
- February 18 - Melbourne Victory beats Adelaide United 6-0 in the 2006-2007 A-League Grand Final at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia.
- February 19 - North Korea agrees to give up its nuclear program for oil.
- February 22 - Huge fire causes 26 fatalities in care centre "Reģi" which is located in Alsunga, Latvia.
- February 25 - The European Space Agency confirms Rosetta's successful Mars trajectory fly-by.
- February 25 - The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, takes place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
- 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 - World stock markets plummet after China and Europe release less-than-expected growth reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average loses 416.02 points, its largest single-day decline since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
- February 28 - The New Horizons space probe makes a gravitational slingshot against Jupiter which changes its trajectory towards Pluto.
March
- March 1 - 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-March 4 - Total lunar eclipse.
- March 4 - Parliamentary elections take place in Estonia and in Abkhazia.
- March 6 - Mega Millions sets a new world record for the highest jackpot of US $370 million.
- March 7 - Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, a Boeing 737-400, crashes at Yogyakarta on the Indonesian island of Java, killing many on board.
- March 7 - Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007 is held.
- 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 11 - Daylight saving time in most of the United States and Canada begins 3 to 4 weeks earlier than previously.
- March 13 - The Stardust Resort & Casino in Las Vegas is imploded.
- March 16 - For the first time in the 23-year history of the popular gameshow Jeopardy!, a 3-way tie occurred.
- March 17 - Chlorine bombs injure hundreds in Baghdad, Iraq.
- March 17 - France wins the 2007 Six Nations Championship on points difference after a controversial tri.
- March 22 - NATO troops launch two assaults in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, killing 38 Taliban terrorists. NATO suffers no casualties.
- March 23 - Naval forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guard seize Royal Navy personnel in disputed Iran-Iraq waters.
- March 25 - In Berlin 27 European ministers celebrate the 50-year Treaty of Rome.
- March 25 - Daylight savings begins in Europe.
- March 25 - This day marks the 200th anniversary of the finalization of the 1807 Slave trade act, which abolished the slave trade in the British Empire.
- March 26 - A National Assembly election takes place in the Canadian province of Québec. The Liberal Party (le Parti Libéral du Québec) wins the elections with 48 seats out of 125 and forms a minority government.
- March 27 - Prime Minister of Latvia Aigars Kalvītis and Prime minister of Russia Mikhail Fradkov finally signs border treaty between Latvia and Russia.
- March 27 - This day marks the 30th Anniversary of the Tenerife disaster, the worst civil aviation accident in history, which occurred in the Canary Islands. Also Sony's 7th generation games console, the Playstation 3 was launched in Europe on this day.
- March 28 - Former MLB pitcher Ugueth Urbina is sentenced to 14 years in prison.
- March 31 - Sydney, Australia, turns off its lights for 1 hour between 7:30pm and 8:30pm as a political statement for Global Climate Change.
April
- April 2 - The Florida Gators beat Ohio State 86-75 to win back-to-back Men's College Basketball National Championships.
- April 2 - Smoking in public and work places is banned in Wales.
- April 2 - The 25th Anniversary of the Falklands War.
- April 2 - The Solomon Islands is shaken by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, and hit by a subsequent tsunami.
- April 3 - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolves the Ukrainian Parliament following defections that increased the majority of his opponents. It has been nicknamed the "Second Orange Revolution".
- April 4 - NATO and Afghan forces retake a key town from the Taliban in Sangin in southern Helmand Province.
- April 4 - Iran announced 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. All except two French tourists successfully evacuate the ship in a three-hour long rescue operation. The ship sinks the next day.
- April 6 - Severe clashes between two rival factions erupted in Parachinar a tribal area of Pakistan bordering the famous Tora Bora Heights.
- April 7 - The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Boston College Eagles in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.
- April 9 - Canada celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a WWI battleground site.
- April 10 - Australian rugby league legend Andrew Johns announces his retirement following a neck injury.
- April 10 - DNA tests reveal that the father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter is ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead.
- April 11 - Al Qaeda claims responsibility for two bomb blasts in the Algerian capital of Algiers. At least 33 people have been killed and 222 others inujured. [1] 2007 Algiers bombings.
- April 12 - Don Imus is fired by CBS for making controversial comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
- April 12 - Cosmonautics Day / Yuri's Night to commemorate the first human in space.
- April 14 - Retired chess champion Garry Kasparov is detained in Moscow for participating in a banned march.
- April 15 - Commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.
- April 16 - The Virginia Tech massacre takes place in the premises of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. 32 people are shot dead by Cho Seung-hui who ends up commiting suicide during the deadliest single shooting incident in the history of the United States.
Scheduled events
April
- April 21 - Presidential election is to be held in Nigeria
- April 22 - The first round of the French presidential election of 2007 will take place
- April 23 - Bogotá, Colombia, begins its term as World Book Capital.
- April 26 - Jamestown 2007, the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the first English settlement in the modern-day United States at Jamestown, Virginia will be celebrated.
- April 27 - Turkey's Presidential Election first round
- April 30 - Smoking in public and work places will be banned in Northern Ireland.
May
- May 1 - 300th Anniversary of the British Act of Union of 1707 merging the parliaments of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, creating the Parliament of Great Britain.
- May 3 - Parliamentary and local government elections in Scotland.
- May 3 - Assembly election in Wales.
- May 3 - Local government elections in England.
- May 5 - 9th Annual Global Marijuana March scheduled; about 200 participating cities expected worldwide.
- May 6 - If no candidate has secured over half the votes in the French Presidential Election, then a runoff between the top two candidates will be held on this date.
- May 12 - A general election to the Alþingi, the parliament of Iceland, will take place.
- May 12-May 13 - Virginia will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown
- May 14 - Legislative and local elections in the Philippines also known as Philippine Midterm Elections.
Linkin Park's new CD "Minutes to Midnight" is scheduled for release this day.
- May 16 - The 2006-07 UEFA Cup final will be held at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland.
- May 16-May 20 - The European Festival of Youth Choirs will be held in Basel, Switzerland.
- May 17 - French President Jacques Chirac must hand over power to the winner of the French presidential election by this date.
- May 18 - The 4th annual Personal Democracy Forum will be held in New York City at Pace University.
- May 19 - The 126th FA Cup Final will be held, the first at the new Wembley Stadium.
- May 19 - The 23rd annual United States National Science Olympiad tournament will be held in Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
- May 23 - The UEFA Champions League 2006-07 season final will be held in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece.
- May 25 - Scheduled prison release of Andrew Golden, one of two gunmen in the Jonesboro massacre.
- May 27 - Parliamentary reelections will occur in Ukraine after Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko dismissed Parliament.
- May 27 - Radio Caracas Televisión, Venezuela's oldest existing television network is expected to sign off after 53 and a half years on the air due to the government's decision not to renew its broadcast license.
- May 27 - Autonomical and local elections in all the Spanish Autonomous Communities except Galicia, Andalusia, the Basque Country and Catalonia.
- May 28-June 2 - The Urdd National Eisteddfod will be held in Carmarthenshire, South Wales
- May 29 - Inauguration of newly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the Abuja Eagle Squre and first civilian to civilian transfer of power in Nigeria.
- May 31 - A calendar Blue moon will occur in the Western Hemisphere and parts of the Eastern Hemisphere.
June
- June 1 - 2007 Atlantic Hurricane season officially begins
- June 5 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will make its second flyby of Venus en route to Mercury. Marilyn Manson's Eat Me, Drink Me comes int stores across the US.
- June 6-June 8 - The 33rd G8 summit will take place in Heiligendamm, Germany.
- June 10 - The first round of a legislative election and a general election will be held in France and Belgium respectively.
- June 10 - The 61st Tony Awards, honoring Broadway theatres' best shows, will take place at Radio City Music Hall.
- June 11-June 15 - Apple's 18th Annual WWDC takes place in San Francisco, CA.
- June 17 - The second round of the legislative election in France will take place.
- June 18 - June 29 - Human Rights Council fifth session (Geneva).
- June 20 - NASA's Dawn spacecraft is scheduled to be launched.
- June 22-June 24 - Glastonbury Festival will take place in England.
- June 27-July 15 - The Copa América 2007 association football tournament will take place in Venezuela.
- June 28 - Start of the Manchester International Festival
- June 30 - A calendar Blue moon will occur in most of the Eastern Hemisphere.
July
- July - Constructions will begin on The Civic Waterfront in Canberra.
- July - Rwanda and Burundi are scheduled to join the East African Community.
- July 1 - The refurbished Millennium Dome, now called The O2 will reopen in London.
- July 1 - Smoking in public and work places is banned in England.
- July 1 - Hong Kong will be marking its 10th anniversary of its Special Administrative Region Establishment.
- July 1 - Russia will be composed of 85 federal subjects instead of 86 as Koryakia will be merged into the Kamchatka Oblast per a 2005 referendum.
- July 4 - The host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics will be announced during the 119th International Olympic Committee Session in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The three candidates cities are Sochi, Salzburg and PyeongChang.
- July 5 - The 50-star flag will surpass the 48-star flag, which flew from 1912 to 1959, as the longest-flying American flag.
- July 7-July 29 - The 2007 Tour de France will take place; the grand départ will be from London.
- July 7 - The New Seven Wonders of the World are set to be revealed in a ceremony in Portugal.
- July 7 - A series of concerts supporting anti-Global warming will take place all over the world called, Live Earth.
- July 8 - Boeing is set to roll out the new Boeing 787 on this date, which corresponds with the hull designation.
- July 13 - The 15th Pan Am Games will open in Rio de Janeiro.
- July 21 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final novel of the Harry Potter series, set to be released.
- July 22 - An election will determine 121 of the 242 seats in the Japanese House of Councillors.
- July 27 to August 8 - 21st World Scout Jamboree takes place in Hylands Park, Essex to celebrate centenary of scouting.
- July 29 - The popular, long-running Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast will close to make way for The Little Mermaid.
August
- August 3-August 5 - The Wikimania conference will be held at Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
- August 4-August 11 - The National Eisteddfod of Wales will be held at Mold, Flintshire, Wales.
- August 4-August 11 - The 92nd Universal Congress of Esperanto in Yokohama, Japan
- August 24-September 2 - The 2007 World Championships in Athletics will be held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan.
- August 28 - Total lunar eclipse.
- August 30-September 3 - The 65th World Science Fiction Convention will take place in Yokohama, Japan.
- August 31 - Malaysia celebrates 50 years of Independence.
September
- September 2 - A general election in Guatemala will elect the president, vice-president, congressmen, municipal mayors and representatives to Parlacen.
- September 8-September 9 - The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation will host its annual city meeting in Sydney.
- September 9 - Manuel Noriega may be paroled by Bureau of Prisons
- September 11 - Partial solar eclipse.
- September 21 - International Day of Peace (United Nations)
- September 23-September 28 - Labour Party Conferences in Bournemouth at which the newly elected party leader will address delegates for the first time as Prime Minister.
October
- October - An election in Pakistan is due.
- October - Singapore Airlines expected to take its first service of the A380
- October 1 - The minimum age for buying tobacco products will rise from 16 to 18 across England and Wales.
- October 4 - The 50th anniversary of the start of space exploration.
- October 10 - An election in the Canadian province of Ontario will take place.
- October 13 - Elections will be held for all Local Government in New Zealand.
- October 17 - Whitehaven, England will become the first place in the United Kingdom to have one of its analogue terrestrial television signals switched off as part of digital switchover.
- October 27 - An election in Argentina will elect the President and members of the National Congress.
November
- November - Parliamentary elections will be held in Croatia
- November - The Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator and collider at CERN in France and Switzerland, is scheduled to be switched on.
- November 4 - General Elections will be held in Turkey.
- 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 14 - The Channel Tunnel Rail Link from London to the Channel Tunnel is expected to be completed.
December
- December 19 - A presidential election will take place in South Korea.
- December 21 - If Queen Elizabeth II lives to this date, at the age of 81, she will become the oldest reigning monarch in both British and the Commonwealth Realms' history, surpassing King George III and Queen Victoria.
- December 23 - A grand conjunction in which the solar system would align with the galactic center.
- December 31 - By this date, there will be four million household robots in use worldwide, according to the United Nations, as reported in the Reader's Digest, January 2007.
Unknown dates
- The current British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is expected to step down before Summer Recess 2007. His likely successor, Gordon Brown might face a leadership election.
- India's 10th Five Year Plan comes to an end.
- Uranus' orbit will be positioned such that the Sun shines directly above its equator.
- The Andean Community and Mercosur will fully integrate into the South American Community of Nations.
- A presidential election will take place in Kenya.
- A legislative election will most certainly take place in Australia.
- Most candidates seeking their party's nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election will declare their candidacies and start actively campaigning.
- The Hidden Imam will appear this year, according to Iranian President Ahmadinejad. [citation needed]
- The seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China is expected to take place.
- Groundbreaking of the Chicago Spire
- The Republic of Ireland hold a general election. Many media outlets in Ireland report that this will take place on May 18th. However, this date will not be known until the president dissolves parliament on the advice of the Taoiseach
- The European Parliament election will take place in Romania
- Ozzfest, also known as Freefest, will take place during the Summer
- Elections will be held in Thailand
- An election of legislator will take place in Taiwan, Republic of China
Births
- February 28 - Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco, daughter of King Mohammed VI and Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco.
- March 5- Eugenia Louis Alphonse-daughter of Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, and Venezuelen heiress Margarita Vargas Santaella.
- March 12 - Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden, son of Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, and his wife Claire Windsor, Countess of Ulster
- March 14 - Simeon Hassan Muñoz, son of Princess Kalina of Bulgaria, and her husband Antonio "Kitín" Muñoz Valcárcel.
- March 17 - Prince Abdul Muntaqim son of Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Sarah Pengiran Salleh, the Crown Prince and Princess of Brunei.
- March 19 - Prince Abdullah bin Al Ali, son of Prince Ali bin Al Hussein and his wife, Rym Brahimi.
- April 6 - Princess Hala of Jordan, daughter of Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein, and his wife, Princess Fahdah.
- April 10 - HRH Princess Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Inez of the Netherlands, daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and his wife, Princess Máxima of the Netherlands.
Deaths
January
- January 1 - Ernie Koy, American baseball player (b. 1909)
- January 1 - Darrent Williams, American football player (b. 1982)
- January 2 - Teddy Kollek, Austrian-born mayor of Jerusalem (b. 1911)
- January 4 - Marais Viljoen, State President of South Africa (b. 1915)
- January 5 - Momofuku Ando, Japanese inventor (b. 1910)
- January 7 - Bobby Hamilton, American race car driver (b. 1957)
- January 8 - Iwao Takamoto, Japanese animator (b. 1925)
- January 8 - Yvonne de Carlo, American actress (b. 1922)
- January 9 - Jean-Pierre Vernant, French historian and anthropologist (b. 1914)
- January 10 - Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (b. 1912)
- January 11 - Robert Anton Wilson, American author and conspiracy researcher (b. 1932)
- January 12 - Alice Coltrane, American jazz musician (b. 1937)
- January 13 - Michael Brecker, American jazz musician (b. 1949)
- January 14 - Darlene Conley, American actress (b. 1934)
- January 14 - Barbara Kelly, Canadian actress (b. 1924)
- January 15 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraqi politician (b. 1951)
- January 15 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar, Iraqi judge (b. 1945)
- January 15 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (b. 1908)
- January 16 - Benny Parsons, American race car driver and television personality (b. 1941)
- January 17 - Art Buchwald, American humorist (b. 1925)
- January 19 - Hrant Dink, Turkish journalist (b. 1954)
- January 19 - Denny Doherty, Canadian musician (The Mamas and the Papas) (b. 1940)
- January 19 - Bam Bam Bigelow, American wrestler (b. 1961)
- January 22 - Abbé Pierre, French priest and founder of Emmaus (b. 1912)
- January 22 - Carlos Olivier, Venezuelan actor (b. 1952)
- January 23 - Ryszard Kapuscinski, Polish journalist and author (b. 1932)
- January 26 - Gump Worsley, Canadian hockey player (b. 1929)
- January 28 - Cyril Demarne, British wartime firefighter (b. 1905)
- January 28 - Hsu Wei Lun, Taiwanese actress (b. 1978)
- January 30 - Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (b. 1917)
- January 31 - Kirka Babitzin, Finnish singer (b. 1950)
- January 31 - Lee Bergere, American actor (b. 1924)
- January 31 - Molly Ivins, American columnist (b. 1944)
February
- February 1 - Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-born composer and librettist (b. 1911)
- February 3 - Pedro Knight, Cuban-born musician (b. 1921)
- February 3 - Billy Henderson, American singer (The Spinners) (b. 1939)
- February 6 - Frankie Laine, American singer (b. 1913)
- February 7 - Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
- February 8 - Anna Nicole Smith, American model and television personality (b. 1967)
- February 9 - Benedict Kiely, Irish author and broadcaster (b. 1919)
- February 9 - Ian Richardson, Scottish actor (b. 1934)
- February 9 - Alejandro Finisterre, Spanish poet, editor, and inventor of table football (b. 1919)
- February 10 - Jung Da Bin, Korean actress (b. 1980)
- February 12 - Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist (b. 1905)
- February 13 - Charles Norwood, American politician (b. 1941)
- February 13 - Eliana Ramos, Uruguayan model (b. 1988)
- February 15 - Robert Adler, Austrian-born inventor (b. 1913)
- February 17 - Maurice Papon, French Vichy government official (b. 1910)
- February 17 - Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Lithuanian writer (b. 1961)
- February 17 - Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born musician (Ryan's Fancy) (b. 1942)
- February 17 - Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (b. 1965)
- February 18 - Juan "Pachín" Vicéns, Puerto Rican basketball player (b. 1933)
- February 22 - Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author, painter, and art collector (b. 1918)
- February 22 - Fons Rademakers, Dutch film director (b. 1920)
- February 22 - Dennis Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1954)
- February 24 - Damien Nash, American football player (b. 1982)
- February 24 - Bruce Bennett, American actor (b. 1906)
- February 27 - Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer (b. 1924)
- February 28 - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., American historian and political commentator (b. 1917)
- February 28 - Billy Thorpe, Australian musician (Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) (b. 1946)
- February 28 - Charles Forte, English hotelier (b. 1908)
March
- March 2 - Henri Troyat, French writer (b. 1911)
- March 2 - Madi Phala, South African artist (b. 1955)
- March 4 - Thomas Eagleton, American politician (b. 1929)
- March 6 - Allen Coage, American professional wrestler (b. 1943)
- March 6 - Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher and sociologist (b. 1929)
- March 6 - Ernest Gallo, American winemaker (b. 1909)
- March 8 - John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
- March 9 - Brad Delp, American singer (Boston) (b. 1951)
- March 10 - Richard Jeni, American comedian (b. 1957)
- March 10 - Ernie Ladd, American football player and professional wrestler (b. 1938)
- March 11 - Betty Hutton, American actress (b. 1921)
- March 12 - Antonio Ortiz Mena, Mexican politician and economist (b. 1907)
- March 13 - Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler (b. 1925)
- March 14 - Lucie Aubrac, French World War II Resistance fighter (b. 1912)
- March 14 - Gareth Hunt, English actor (b. 1943)
- March 15 - Bowie Kuhn, Major League Baseball Commissioner (b. 1926)
- March 16 - Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)
- March 16 - Sir Arthur Marshall, British aviation engineer (b. 1903)
- March 17 - Jim Cronin, British businessman (b. 1952)
- March 18 - Bob Woolmer, English cricketer and coach (b. 1948)
- March 19 - Calvert DeForest, American actor and comedian (b. 1921)
- March 19 - Luther Ingram, American singer (b. 1937)
- March 20 - Taha Yassin Ramadan, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
- March 23 - Eric Medlen, American race car driver (b. 1973)
- March 25 - Andranik Margaryan, 14th Prime Minister of Armenia (b. 1951)
April
- April 1 - Laurie Baker, English architect (b. 1917)
- April 1 - Driss Chraibi, Moroccan writer (b. 1926)
- April 1 - Hans Filbinger, German jurist and politician (b. 1913)
- April 2 - Henry Lee Giclas, American astronomer (b. 1910)
- April 3 - Eddie Robinson, American football coach (b. 1919)
- April 4 - Bob Clark, American film director (b. 1939)
- April 5 - Leela Majumdar, Bengali children's author (b. 1908)
- April 5 - Darryl Stingley, American football player (b. 1951)
- April 5 - Poornachandra Tejaswi, Indian writer and novelist (b. 1938)
- April 6 - Luigi Comencini, Italian film director (b. 1916)
- April 7 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
- April 7 - Barry Nelson, American actor (b. 1920)
- April 11 - Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist and playwright (b. 1922)
- April 14 - June Callwood, Canadian journalist (b. 1924)
- April 14 - Don Ho, American musician (b. 1930)
Holidays
- January 1 - New Year's Day
- January 26 - Australia Day. India Republic Day.
- February 19 - Presidents' Day in the USA.
- February 21 - Western Christianity: Ash Wednesday and start of Lent.
- March 17 - Saint Patrick's Day.
- March 19 - Feast of Saint Joseph in Christianity. In Judaism, start of the month of Nisan.
- March 21 - Norouz, Iranian and Bahai New Year.
- April 2 - In Judaism, 14/15 Nisan. Passover Seder.
- April 6 - Anniversary of the founding in 1830 of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- April 6 - Good Friday in the Western Christian and Eastern Orthodox calendars.
- April 8 - Easter (Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy).
- April 10 - End of Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread.
- April 22 - Earth Day
- April 23 - Saint George's Day.
- April 23 - Israeli Independence Day (Iyar 5) in the Hebrew calendar.
- April 25 - Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand
- April 27 - Arbor Day in the USA.
- May 1 - Beltane, a Cross-quarter day. Also Labor Day in most of the world, but not in the USA and Canada. May Day.
- May 5 - Cinco de Mayo, celebrating the Battle of Puebla, in Mexico and the USA.
- May 21 - Victoria Day in Canada.
- May 23 - Shavuot or Pentecost in the Jewish religion.
- May 28 - Memorial Day in the USA.
- June 14 - Flag Day in the USA.
- July 1 - Canada Day.
- July 4 - Independence Day in the USA.
- July 12 - 12th of July celebrations in northern Ireland.
- July 14 - Bastille Day.
- July 24 - Birthday of Simon Bolivar observed in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Pioneer Day observed in Utah.
- August 1 - Lammas, "Loaf Mass," a Cross-quarter day.
- August 9 - National Day in Singapore
- August 15 - India Independence Day
- August 31 - National Day in Malaysia
- September 3 - Labour Day in Canada and the USA.
- September 12 - Rosh Hashana begins at sunset: New Year 5768 in the Hebrew Calendar. Celebrations continue until sunset, September 14.
- September 21 - Yom Kippur or Yom ka-kippurim, the Day of Atonement in the Jewish faith, begins at sunset, and continues until after sunset September 22.
- September 27 Sukot or Tabernacles in the Jewish religion.
- October 2 - Gandhi Jayanti in India
- October 8 - Thanksgiving in Canada. Columbus Day in the USA this year.
- October 12 - Columbus Day in Central and South America. A day of mourning for Native Americans.
- October 31 - All Hallows' Eve, Halloween.
- November 1 - All Saints' Day. Samhain, a cross-quarter day. Neopagan New Year's Day.
- November 22 - Thanksgiving this year in the USA.
- December 25 - Christmas in Western Christianity.
- December 26 - Boxing Day in most Commonwealth countries.