December 1998
Hyundai Heavy Industries begins construction on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in South Korea.

September 2001
Deepwater Horizon enters service under the operation of BP.

February 2002
Deepwater Horizon spills 267 barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico after a hose failure, according to the Minerals Management Service, the federal regulator of offshore drilling.

June 2003
Deepwater Horizon spills 944 barrels of oil into the Gulf due to bad weather and poor judgment of the captain.

November 2005
Deepwater Horizon spills 212 barrels of an oil-based lubricant due to equipment failure and human error. 

September 2, 2009
Deepwater Horizon completes a 35,050-foot-deep well, the deepest oil and gas well ever drilled.

March 31, 2010
President Obama opens nearly the entire Southern Atlantic Coastline to offshore drilling.

April 19, 2010
According to a statement from the company, Halliburton workers finish cementing pipes at the rig's current well.

April 20, 2010
The Deepwater Horizon explodes in the Gulf of Mexico with rescue boats racing to the scene to put out the flames.

April 22, 2010
The devastated drilling platform sinks.

April 23, 2010
The Coast Guard publicly states that there is no oil leak.

April 24, 2010
An oil leak is discovered and experts estimate that some 1,000 barrels of oil are flooding into the Gulf per day.

April 29, 2010
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declares a state of emergency after the Coast Guard increases its projection of the leak to 5,000 barrels per day.

May 3, 2010
CEO Tony Hayward tells the press that BP will pay for all clean-up costs and any "legitimate" legal claims against his company.

Jared Wade is editor of Risk Management.