Thursday May 3 2007: Madeleine disappears from a holiday apartment at the Ocean Club resort in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz, while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.
Friday May 4: The McCanns make an emotional plea for Madeleine's safe return, directly appealing to their daughter's abductors and speaking of their "anguish and despair".
Saturday May 5: Madeleine's aunt, Philomena McCann, criticises the Portuguese police, claiming they are playing down her niece's disappearance and being "uncommunicative". Detectives say they believe Madeleine was abducted and is still alive and in Portugal.
Wednesday May 9: A Norwegian tourist, Marie Olli, says she believes she saw Madeleine at a Moroccan petrol station asking a man: "Can I see mummy soon?" On the same day, a British man reports seeing a girl matching her description near the Ibis hotel in Marrakech.
Monday May 14: Police launch a search at the Portuguese home of a British expatriate, Robert Murat, 100 yards from where Madeleine disappeared. He is questioned, but not formally arrested.
Tuesday May 15: Police class Murat as an "arguido", or someone who has not been arrested or charged but is being treated by police as more than a witness. He claims he is being made a scapegoat in the investigation.
Saturday May 12: The McCanns mark Madeleine's fourth birthday by calling for people to redouble their efforts to find her.
Thursday May 24: Madeleine's family release what is believed to be the last photograph taken of her before she disappeared.
Friday May 25: In their first interviews, the McCanns say the "guilt" of not being with Madeleine will never leave them. Police release a description of the man seen carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.
Wednesday June 6: Madeleine's parents deny any involvement in her abduction when questioned by a German journalist at a press conference in Berlin.
Saturday June 16: A British couple report seeing a small blonde girl in the Maltese capital, Valletta. A full-scale investigation is launched in the wake of a number of other possible sightings.
Sunday June 17: Portuguese police say Madeleine's friends and family may have unwittingly destroyed vital evidence in the first few hours after her presumed abduction, during their search for her.
Thursday June 28: Spanish police arrest an Italian man and a Portuguese woman suspected of trying to extort money from Madeleine's parents by offering them information about the missing girl.
Friday July 6: Dutch police reveal they have arrested a man in Eindhoven suspected of attempting to defraud Gerry and Kate McCann by demanding €2m (£1.35m) for information on her whereabouts.
Friday August 3: A child therapist says she is "100% sure" she saw the girl at a restaurant in the Belgian town of Tongeren, near the Dutch border, on July 28.
Saturday August 4: Police launch a second search of Murat's house. No new evidence is found.
Monday August 6: A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the apartment where Madeleine went missing. A Portuguese paper, the Jornal de Noticias, claims detectives now believe it is most likely that Madeleine is dead, having been killed accidentally.
Saturday August 11: On the 100th day of Madeleine's disappearance, police acknowledge publicly for the first time that Madeleine could be dead.
Sunday August 12: Kate McCann tells Woman's Own magazine that she would rather know her daughter was dead than live in limbo forever.
Wednesday August 15: Blood traces found in the bedroom where Madeleine was sleeping the night she was snatched were not hers, the Times reports. Forensic results show the blood came from a man, it adds.
Tuesday August 21: Two women report seeing a youngster matching Madeleine's description with a man at a petrol station near Cartagena, in the south-east of Spain.
Saturday August 25: Gerry McCann says he will be returning to work but insists his daughter may still be alive.
Friday August 31: The McCanns are to launch a libel action against a Portuguese newspaper that claimed police believe they killed their daughter, it emerges. The action will be against the Tal & Qual paper, based in Oporto.
Thursday September 6: Kate McCann arrives at a Portuguese police station to face further questioning by detectives.
Friday September 7: After 10 hours of questioning, Kate McCann is formally declared an arguida.
Saturday September 8: Gerry McCann is given arguido status after further police questioning.
Sunday September 9: The McCanns return to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, with their twins, Sean and Amelie.
Monday September 10: Portuguese police sources suggest that DNA tests prove Madeleine's body had been in the boot of a car hired by her parents 25 days after she disappeared. Some DNA experts doubt the claims.
Tuesday September 11: A dossier outlining the police case against the McCanns is passed to the local prosecutor, Joao Cunha de Magalhaes, who then asks a judge to assess the information.
Sunday September 16: Sir Richard Branson reveals he is giving £100,000 to help cover the McCanns' legal costs.
Tuesday September 18: Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC reporter, confirms he has resigned as the head of the government's media monitoring unit to become the spokesman for the McCann family. His salary is paid by a Cheshire businessman, Brian Kennedy.
Wednesday September 19: The Evora district attorney general, Luis Bilro Verao, rules there is not enough evidence to justify further questioning of the McCanns about the disappearance of their daughter.
Tuesday October 2: The police officer in charge of the inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, is removed from the case and demoted for criticising British police involvement in the investigation.
Tuesday October 2: The police officer in charge of the inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, is removed from the case and demoted for criticising British police involvement in the investigation.
Thursday October 4: The second in command in the Portuguese inquiry, Chief Inspector Tavares Almeida, requests an extended leave of absence. The news comes two days after the police chief, Goncalo Amaral, was removed from the case and demoted for criticising British police involvement in the investigation.
Monday October 8: Paulo Rebelo, a deputy national director in the Portuguese police, is placed in charge of the investigation.
Thursday October 25: The McCanns hire a Spanish detective agency to run a 24-hour confidential telephone line in the hope that new information may yet be forthcoming. It is targeted at Spain, Portugal and Morocco, countries they believe may hold leads about Madeleine.
Tuesday October 30: The McCanns use part of the £1m fund set up to help find Madeleine to make two mortgage payments on their home in Leicestershire.
Thursday November 1: Gerry McCann returns to work, almost six months after his daughter went missing.
Friday November 16: Jane Tanner, one of the McCann family's closest friends and part of the so-called Tapas Seven, says she saw a man carrying a sleeping child away from the holiday apartments 45 minutes before Kate McCann discovered her daughter was missing.
Tuesday January 8 2008: The McCanns' spokesman says the family spoke to the entertainment and media company IMG before Christmas about turning the story of Madeleine's disappearance into a film. The talks were held amid concern that £1.2m fund dedicated to finding the four-year-old was rapidly running out.
Wednesday February 13: Portuguese authorities say the search for Madeleine is winding down, more than nine months after she vanished.
Wednesday March 19: The Daily Express and the Daily Star carry unprecedented front-page apologies for publishing more than 100 articles on the disappearance of Madeleine, some of which suggested her parents were involved in her death. The papers pay £550,000 in damages.
Monday April 7: Portuguese police, headed by Rebelo, arrive in the UK to be present as Leicestershire constabulary officers begin interviewing the Tapas Seven.
Wednesday April 30: Kate McCann reveals how the couple had considered taking their children with them to eat at the restaurant. She also recounts how she often imagines how Madeleine would look now, aged nearly five.
Thursday May 1: The McCanns insist they still believe their daughter is still alive.
Thursday May 3: The first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance is marked by a renewed appeal for information and church services in Portugal and the UK.
Monday July 7: Leicestershire police agree to share with the McCanns 81 pieces of information from their investigation. The McCanns ask to have access to Portuguese police files, too.
Tuesday July 15: Murat wins about £600,000 in damages from 11 British newspapers and Sky News for defamatory reports of his involvement in the disappearance.
Monday July 21: Portugal's attorney general, Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro, announces his "solution" to the case.
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