The History People Speaketh: It's the list time of year and the Wisconsin Historical Society has submitted its list of notable moments in 2007 Wisconsin. And here they are:

• Citizens Soldiers Getting Shipped Abroad Again: More than 3,000 members of the Wisconsin Army National Guard learned that they will likely see service in Iraq in mid-2009, many of them for the second time. If deployed as expected, the move would represent the largest single mobilization of the Guard unit since it served during the Berlin Crisis in 1961-'62. To date, 82 Wisconsin soldiers have died in combat in Iraq.
• Stem Cell Surging: UW-Madison researchers reported that they had successfully devised a method to reprogram human skin cells in such a way that they appear to function like embryonic stem cells without using a human embryo. The finding could potentially transform the ethical and political debate over stem cell research, which had previously required the destruction of an embryo.
• Brett's the Man: Brett Favre setting all-time passing records and earning the Sportsman of the Year label from Sports Illustrated piqued the Historical Society.
• Floods Ravish: The better part of southwestern Wisconsin was declared a federal disaster area after more than 12 inches of rain fell and flooded the region. The flooding caused about $112 million in damage.
• Drinking and Driving: The Badger State ranked first among the worst for states in drinking and driving, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. About 40 percent of traffic fatalities involved alcohol, says MADD.
• Bucky Tops the Charts: The Wisconsin men's basketball team earned its first number-one ranking in school history on Feb. 19 with a 26-2 record. It was shortlived. The Badgers got knocked out of the NCAA tournament the first weekend. Another noted moment in 2007 was that Alando Tucker was named Big Ten Player of the Year and selected 27th in the draft by Phoenix. After a short stint in the bigs, he was sent down to the NBA Development League in November, but brought back up just two weeks ago.
• Budget Bombast: The country's longest budget impasse took place right here in Wisconsin after Gov. Doyle, Democrats and Republicans couldn't agree on how much to raise taxes. The posturing lasted for more than 100 days.
• He's the Man: Steve Avery won everybody's sympathy after serving 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. But we couldn't take the prison out of Avery and he was convicted in March of brutally murdering a young woman at his Manitowoc County home. He was freed because of DNA evidence and then convicted of the murder by DNA evidence.
• Crandon Killings: Six young people were shot to death in Crandon by an off-duty Forest County deputy sheriff. A jealous rage triggered the gunfire.
• Beer Bonged: Miller and Coors agreed to merge to save money. Since Pete Coors was appointed CEO, it's likely Miller brass will be shipped to the mountains of Colorado. Not much can be done, however, to put a sizeable dent in the Budweiser market share.