BP began its long-awaited 'static kill' operation to finally plug the ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well and seal it once and for all.
Here is a summary of events since the disaster struck in April:
April
20 April 2010: The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, 80km off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers.
22 April 2010: The platform sinks to the sea floor, some 1,500m below the surface.
25 April 2010: Energy giant BP, which leased the rig, says oil is escaping from the well, after initial BP denials of leaks.
30 April 2010: Oil starts washing ashore in Louisiana, eventually soiling more than 1,029km of coastline across five US states.
May
2 May 2010: President Barack Obama visits Louisiana.
27 May 2010: Obama unveils six-month moratorium on new offshore oil drilling and exploration.
30 May 2010: BP chief executive Tony Hayward says he 'would like my life back.'
June
1 June 2010: US launches a civil and criminal investigation into the spill.
3 June 2010: After a series of failures, BP moves to place a containment cap securely over severed pipe.
15 June 2010: Barack Obama vows to 'make BP pay.' US raises estimate of the leak flow rate to between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day.
16 June 2010: BP announces a $20bn-dollar fund to compensate people affected by the disaster.
22 June 2010: A New Orleans judge blocks the deep water drilling freeze.
30 June 2010: Hurricane Alex disrupts containment efforts for several days.
July
5 July 2010: BP spill costs soar above $3bn.
12 July 2010: BP says it successfully placed a new giant cap over the leak and will start integrity tests.
15 July 2010: No oil is flowing into Gulf, says BP.
27 July 2010: BP boss Tony Hayward resigns, replaced by American Bob Dudley.
August
2 August 2010: US government and BP release revised spill figures, saying that a total of 4.9m gallons of crude gushed from the ruptured well, making it the world's biggest-ever maritime oil spill.
3 August 2010: BP begins its 'static kill' operation to permanently seal the well with heavy drilling mud and cement.
Watch live feeds of the operation
