October 23, 2007

2007John Ilhan, Turkish-Australian businessman, founded Crazy John's (born 1965)^[†]

John Ilhan was an Australian businessman. He was the founder of Crazy John's mobile phone retail chain and, in 2003, was the richest Australian under 40 years of age.

2007Lim Goh Tong, Malaysian-Chinese businessman (born 1918)^[†]

Lim Goh Tong was a prominent wealthy Malaysian Chinese entrepreneur. He was the founder of Genting Highlands and renowned for transforming the resort from an unexplored hilltop into one of the world's most successful casino resorts. According to Forbes, he was once the third richest man in Malaysia with a net worth of US$4.3 billion.

2007A storm causes the Mexican Kab 101 oil platform to collide with a wellhead, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after evacuation of the platform.^[†]

Kab 101 is a Sea Pony-type minimum-facilities light-production oil platform operated by Mexican state-owned oil company PEMEX, and installed about 26 kilometres (16 mi) off the coast of Tabasco, near the port of Dos Bocas, in 1994. The platform was designed by British engineering firm SLP Engineering Limited. The platform also produces the wells Kab 103 and Kab 121. This platform was the site of the accident which eventually led to the death of 22 workers. Pemex would contract two independent studies and one by itself and in an exercise of transparency, posted the reports on its website. On October 31, 2008, PEMEX released the result of the independent studies of the accident.

2007Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-120, with Pamela Melroy becoming the second female space shuttle commander.^[†]

Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.