Photo: Mrs MagicApril 20: The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers.
April 22: The rig, dangerously listing and still ablaze two days after the explosion, sinks to the bottom of the Gulf, some 5,000 feet below the surface.
April 25: Energy giant BP, which leased the rig, says oil is escaping from the well — after officials initially denied such a possibility.
April 29: The first oil reaches the shores of Louisiana.
May 2: President Obama visits Louisiana for the first time since the spill.
May 27: Obama unveils a six-month moratorium on new oil drilling and exploration.
May 30: BP CEO Tony Hayward makes the controversial comment that he “would like my life back” as he struggles to deal with the aftermath of the massive spill.
June 1: The United States launches a civil and criminal investigation into the oil spill. BP shares slump after the company reveals the disaster has cost it $990 million so far.
June 14: Obama begins a two-day, three-state tour of the oil-slick Gulf, his fourth visit to the region.
June 15: Obama uses his first Oval Office address to discuss the crisis, vowing to “make BP pay.” His administration raises the estimate of the size of the leak to between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day.
June 16: BP announces it will create a $20 billion fund to compensate people affected by the catastrophe.
June 18: Mississippi-born Robert Dudley replaces Hayward as leader of BP’s day-to-day response to the oil spill.
June 22: A New Orleans judge blocks a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, striking a blow to the Obama administration.
June 30: Hurricane Alex, the first major storm of the Atlantic season, churns waters in the Gulf of Mexico, putting containment efforts on hold.
July 4: Cleanup efforts resume after Alex dissipates over Mexico.
July 5: Tar balls hit the Texas coast, as BP’s costs in the disaster soar above $3 billion.
July 10: Underwater robots remove a loosely fitting cap over the leaking oil well, the first step in an operation to replace it with a tighter containment cap.
July 12: Obama administration announces a second moratorium on deepwater drilling. BP says it has successfully placed a new giant valve over the leak, hoping it will seal the well or contain all the gushing crude.
July 15: For the first time, BP stops the Gulf gusher from flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, mostly …
July 27: BP announces that gaffe-prone Hayward is out and, as of Oct. 1, Dudley will take over as CEO of the company.
July 28: Day 100 of the Gulf disaster.
