2007 Timeline

August 2007 political, sport and cultural events

The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007. The bridge which connected the Minneapolis neighborhoods of Downtown East and Marcy-Holmes fell into the river and onto its banks, killing thirteen people. The cause of the structural collapse of the I-35W Mississippi bridge is not yet known although the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient" in 1990. However, "structurally deficient" does not directly indicate a lack of safety and about 75,000 other US bridges had this classification.

Timeline of August 2007 events

August 1
- Japan's agriculture minister Norihiko Akagi resigned after he was accused of financial irregularities.
- The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed killing 13 people.

August 6
- Two grenades were fired on Macedonian government building in Skopje but nobody was injured.

August 7
- Satsuki Eda of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was elected the president of Japan's Upper House and became the first opposition president of Japan's Upper House in more than 50 years.

August 11
- Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) and Solomon Berewa of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) won the first round of the Sierra Leonean presidential elections. Parliamentary elections were won by All People's Congress.

August 13
- Talebans released two South Korean hostages, while the other 19 remained hostages.
- Tiger Woods won PGA Championship.

August 14
- A bridge collapsed in the town of Fenghuang in China's Hunan province, killing 36 people.

August 15
- At least 200 people were killed in a series of bombings near the city of Mosul, Iraq.
- Over 500 people were killed in a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Peru.

August 17
- Former South Africa's Police Minister Adriaan Vlok got suspended 10-year sentence for his role in the 1989 plot to kill Frank Chikane.

August 24
- Georgian forces fired at an aircraft they believed to be Russian after it violated Georgian airspace.

August 25
- Former French Prime Minister Raymond Barre died at age 83.
- Two bomb attacks in Hyderabad, India killed 44 people.

August 27
- US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation.

August 28
- Abdullah Gul was elected President of Turkey by the Turkish parliament.

August 29
- Former French Prime Minister Pierre Messmer died at age 91.
- Talebans in Afghanistan freed 12 of the 19 South Korean hostages.

August 30
- US Air Force B-52 bomber mistakenly flew with 6 nuclear warheads from a base in North Dakota to Louisiana.