1953 - The drug was created in Germany by the Grunenthal Group.
1958 - Thalidomide was first licensed for use in the UK.
1961 - Australian doctor William McBride wrote to leading medical journal, the Lancet, after noticing an increase in deformed babies being born at his hospital - all to mothers who had taken thalidomide. The drug was withdrawn later that year.
1968 - UK manufacturers Distillers Biochemicals Limited (now Diageo) reach a compensation settlement following a legal battle by the families of those affected.
2004 - Thalidomide is made available on a named patient basis - doctors can give it to patients, but only on a case-by-case basis and at their own discretion, under strict controls.
2007 - A study shows thalidomide can significantly improve the survival of bone-marrow cancer patients.
2008 - The drug is approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma by the European Medicines Agency.
2009 - Scientists at the University of Aberdeen claim they have solved a "50-year puzzle" after discovering how thalidomide causes limb defects. They found that a component of the drug prevents the growth of new blood vessels in developing embryos.
2012 - The inventor of thalidomide, the Grunenthal Group, releases a statement saying it "regrets" the consequences of the drug.
