TUESDAY · 9 JANUARY 2007
As Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone in San Francisco, Portugal was debating public policy and experimenting with online communication. Across the world, conflict and energy security dominated the headlines. A documented portrait of a single day.
Archive note: this article was written in 2026 using historical sources. It covers stories published on 9 January 2007 and events unfolding that day. It is not a reproduction of a contemporary newspaper.
Ahead of a state visit to India, President Aníbal Cavaco Silva released a video message on the Presidency website and promised further online updates. The presidential archive preserves an original record.
Portugal was preparing for a referendum scheduled for 11 February. On 9 January, reports focused on the Lisbon cardinal-patriarch José Policarpo’s opposition to changing the law.
The municipality announced a road construction and upgrading programme worth more than €13.6 million to improve access to the A42 motorway.
Contemporary reports described strikes on suspected al-Qaeda targets in southern Somalia. Early casualty reports and descriptions of the operations were incomplete and sometimes disputed.
The interruption of oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline affected several European countries. The European Commission pressed both parties to restore flows.
President George W. Bush was preparing an address on increasing US troop numbers in Iraq. The speech itself took place on 10 January, not on the day the iPhone was announced.
At Macworld, Apple demonstrated a device that brought together a phone, an iPod and Internet access. It was announced on 9 January and only went on sale in the United States in June.
In Portugal, the President was beginning to address the public through online video. In San Francisco, Apple introduced a phone designed to make web browsing feel closer to a computer experience. Both stories capture a turning point in everyday digital life.
Explore the original iPhone headlines