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In June 1979, an oil well in the Bay of Campeche collapsed after a pressure buildup sparked an accidental explosion. Over the next 10 months about 140 million gallons of crude spouted into the Gulf of Mexico from the damaged
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An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig kills 11 workers. Oil begins gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the blown-out well a mile below.
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Adm Thad Allen, the commander of the US response, says clean-up of the oil-stricken Gulf could take years
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BP announces it will place $20bn in a fund to compensate victims of the oil spill and says it will not pay a shareholder dividend this year.
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The spill passes the 140-million gallon mark. That tops the 1979 Ixtoc disaster, making the Deepwater Horizon spill the worst in Gulf history.
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Oil from the spill reaches Texas, meaning it has affected all five US Gulf Coast states.
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The US government says the oil spill is officially the biggest leak ever, with 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked before the well was capped last month. Scientists said only a fifth of the leaking oil - around 800,000 barrels - was captured during the clean-up operation.
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Oil from the leaking well begins washing ashore in Louisiana. Soon fragile coastal wetlands are inundated with thick, brown mud. President Barack Obama's administration bans oil drilling in new areas off the US coast pending investigations into the cause of the BP spill. Before the spill, Mr Obama had said he would allow new offshore drilling.
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BP agrees to pay $4.5 billion and plead guilty to felony counts relating to the death of 11 rig workers and lying to Congress.
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National Fish and Wildlife Federation announces more than $100 million for Gulf Coast environmental projects.
