2007 Timeline

Changes in Russia and other 2007 April events

Boris Yeltsin, the first President of the Russian Federation who served from 1991 to 1999 died on April 23, 2007 at age 76. In 1991 was Yeltsin elected president of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, becoming the first popularly elected president. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 Boris Yeltsin tried to transform Russia into a capitalist market economy. However, the reforms were too slow and caused series of economic and political crisis in Russia in the 1990s. Following the 1998 Russian financial crisis Boris Yeltsin resigned just few hours before the first day of 2000 and left the presidency in the hands of Vladimir Putin.

Timeline of April 2007 events

April 1
- German table tennis player Timo Boll won the 2007 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

April 2
- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved the Ukrainian Parliament.
- Swiss tennis player Roger Federer won the Laureus World Sports Awards for the sportsman of the year, while Russian athlete Yelena Isinbayeva won the Laureus World Sports Awards for the sportswoman of the year.

April 4
- Iran released the British sailors and marines.

April 7
- Slovenian ultra marathon swimmer Martin Strel completed the swim the entire length of the Amazon river after 66 days.

April 8
- American golfist Zach Johnson won the 2007 Masters Tournament.

April 11
- American author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. died at age 84.

April 12
- A suicide bomber in the cafeteria at the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad killed at least eight people.

April 16
- A gunman shot and killed 32 people at the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.

April 17
- The Mayor of Nagasaki, Iccho Itoh was shot during campaigning for re-election for his fourth term. He died one day later.

April 19
- Romanian Parliament suspended Traian Basescu, the President of Romania.
- At his visit in Belgrade, Serbia, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Ahtisaari's plan for the future status of Kosovo failed.
- British fashion designer John Galliano was found guilty of plagiarism by a court in France.

April 21
- American country music songwriter and singer Kris Kristofferson won CMT's Johnny Cash Visionary Award.
- A gunman killed a hostage and himself at Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
- Umaru Yar'Adua won the Presidential elections in Nigeria.

April 22
- No candidate obtained an absolute majority in the first round of the French presidential election of 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal made it to the second round.

April 23
- Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin died at age 76.
- India launched its first commercial space rocket.

April 26
- Sultan Mizan was crowned 13th King of Malaysia at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur. Sultan Mizam succeeded King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin who's five-year term ended.

April 27
- One man was killed and 153 people were injured during the violent clashes in the Estonian capital, Tallinn as police removed a controversial World War II memorial to Red Army soldiers.