The annual Rose Parade in California is drenched in heavy rain for the first time in 51 years.[2]
PepsiCo announces its purchase of Star Foods for an undisclosed price saying that the purchase would strengthen its place as Poland's number one seller of potato chips.[3]
The Bush administration proposes spending $114million on educational programs to expand the teaching of Arabic, Chinese, Persian and other languages typically not taught in public schools.[4]
IBM says that it would freeze pension benefits for its American employees starting in 2008 and offer them only a 401k retirement plan in future.[5]
January 6
AOL agrees to pay customers as much as $25million to settle claims that it wrongly billed them for some online services and products.[6]
NYSE says that it has picked Bear Wagner as the firm that will handle trading of its shares when it goes public.[7]
January 7 – Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority LeaderTom DeLay announces he will not seek to reassume his former post.[8][9]
January 9
Vice President Dick Cheney complains of shortness of breath and is treated at the hospital. The White House says the trip was necessary because of fluid retention as a side effect of a drug Mr. Cheney had taken to treat chronic foot ailments.[10]
January 15 – NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.[14]
January 17 – California executes Clarence Ray Allen (death by lethal injection), who was sentenced to death in 1982 for arranging the murders of three people.[15]
January 18 – American International Group (AIG), the world's largest insurer, says that its chief operating officer Donald P. Kanak has resigned and stepped down from the board "for personal reasons".[16]
January 19 – NASA launches the New Horizons spacecraft in a 9-year, 3billion mile space mission, to flyby and observe the dwarf planetary system of Pluto/Charon and possibly other Kuiper belt objects.[17]
January 20 – A Maryland judge strikes down a state law banning same-sex marriage saying the measure violated a state constitutional amendment prohibiting sex discrimination.[18]
January 26 – General Motors reports an $8.6billion loss for 2006, its biggest loss since 1992.[19]
January 27 – An inhaled form of insulin wins federal approval offering an alternative to injections for millions of people with diabetes.[20]
Jennifer San Marco kills seven people before committing suicide at a postal facility in Goleta, California. San Marco had worked at the facility previously, but had been let go due to her erratic behavior.
February 1 – UAL Corporation, United Airlines' parent company, emerges from bankruptcy after being in that position since December 9, 2002, the longest such filing in history.
February 6 – Feeding Frenzy 2 is released by PopCap Games on PC.
February 9 – AIG apologizes for deceptive business practices and reaches a $1.64billion settlement with federal and state securities and insurance regulators.[26]
February 15 – A group of institutional investors already involved in a lawsuit with the company sue Tyco International to stop its proposed breakup plan.[29]
February 16
The state of Minnesota sues AIG for underreporting premiums to reduce its tax bill refusing a settlement of $1.2million.[30]
The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, testifies to the US Senate that Chinese ownership of US assets is not large enough to put the country at risk economically.[31]
March 14 – Crystal Mangum makes false rape accusations against three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team, an event which marked the beginning of the Duke lacrosse case[38]
March 16 – The Blu-ray disc format is released in the United States.
March 22 – The Federal Reserve stops the publishing of M3 money supply data.
March 25 – Seven die in the Capitol Hill massacre in Seattle, Washington. Perpetrator Kyle Huff's rampage is fueled by his hatred of "rave scene" gatherings.
April 29 – Massive anti-war demonstrations and a march down Broadway in New York City mark the third year of war in Iraq.[citation needed]
May
May 1 – The Great American Boycott takes place across the United States as marchers protest for immigration rights.
May 5 – Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne announces that the Alfa Romeo automobile brand will return to the United States in 2008, after a 13-year hiatus.[39]
July 5 – North Korea test fires missiles, timed with the liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery, preceding the fireworks celebrations that night in America. The long range Taepodong–2 reportedly fails shortly after takeoff.[45]
July 22 – Needles, California experiences a record high low temperature of 100°F (38°C) at 6:00am with a high temperature exceeding 120°F (49°C), making it one of the few locations on Earth that have recorded a triple-digit overnight low temperature.[46]
August
August 10: A United States TSA agent inspects a service monkey before a flight.
August 10 – London Metropolitan Police make 21 arrests in connection to an apparent terrorist plot that involved aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States. Liquids and gels are banned from checked and carry-on baggage.[47][48] As of September 26, the Transportation Security Administration adjusts its ban on liquids, aerosols and gels. Travelers are permitted to carry liquids through security checkpoints in containers of 3.4ounces (100mL) or less that fit comfortably in one quart-size clear plastic zip-top bag. This procedure came to be known as "3–1–1 for carry-ons" (3.4ounce containers in a 1 quart bag, 1 bag per passenger). Items purchased in the airside zone after clearing security could be brought on board without restriction. Other exemptions to this restriction include medications and breast milk.[49]
August 28 – A Greyhound Lines bus from New York City to Montreal carrying 52 people crashes at mile 115 on Interstate 87 near Elizabethtown, killing five people, including the driver, and seriously injuring others.
August 29 – The United States commemorates the first anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina.
September 18 –The CW network debuts as the sixth broadcast network, merging with UPN (owned by CBS which split in the original Viacom, three days after UPN ceased operations) and The WB (owned by Warner Bros., a day after The WB ceased operations).
October – The unemployment rate drops to 4.4%, the lowest since May 2001.
October 2 – Charles Carl Roberts IV, a 32-year-old milk-truck driver, kills five girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, before shooting himself.
October 3 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 56.99 points, or 0.49 percent, with a close of 11,727.34, its first all-time high in more than 6 years after it last hit in a record high of 11,722.98 on January 20, 2000.
October 6 – A hazardous waste plant near Apex, North Carolina explodes, releasing chlorine gas, and resulting in the evacuation of thousands and the hospitalization of over 200 residents.
October 10 – Google buys YouTube for $1.65billion.
October 11 – A plane crashes into a high-rise building in New York City, killing two.
Subprime mortgage crisis: This summer, the housing bubble bursts, starting a chain of events that would eventually develop into a full-blown market meltdown.
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