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November 2005
News of the World (NoW) prints a story about Britain’s Prince William injuring his knee, prompting royal officials to complain to police about probable voicemail hacking. -
August 2006
Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire are arrested for illegal phone hacking. -
January 2007
NoW royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire are convicted of conspiracy to hack into phone voicemails of royals and are jailed. Andy Coulson, the paper’s editor, insists he is unaware of hacking but still resigns. -
July 2007
Goodman and Mulcaire sue the tabloid for wrongful dismissal. Goodman receives £80,000 (currently $129,190), and Mulcaire receives an undisclosed amount. Coulson is hired as director of communications for Conservative party leader David Cameron, who becomes UK prime minister in May 2010. -
June 2008
News Group Newspapers pays a £700,000 (nearly $1.13 million) settlement to soccer executive Gordon Taylor, whose phone was hacked by Mulcaire. -
November 2009
Britain’s Press Complaints Commission releases a report concluding that there is no evidence of continued phone hacking. -
September 2010
Former NoW journalist Sean Hoare alleges that phone hacking was a common practice at the paper and encouraged by Coulson. -
January 2011
Coulson resigns as Cameron’s spokesman because of coverage of the phone-hacking scandal. -
January 2011
London’s Metropolitan Police launches a new investigation into voicemail hacking allegations at NoW. -
April 2011
News of the World officially apologizes for hacking into voicemails from 2004 to 2006 and sets up a compensation system for unnamed victims. -
July 2011
It is reported that News of the World journalists possibly hacked into then-missing teenager Milly Dowler’s voicemail and deleted messages to free space, causing her parents to believe she was still alive. -
July 2011
Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., the parent company of News of the World owner News International, promises full cooperation with the investigation and calls the accusations against News of the World “deplorable and unacceptable.” -
July 2011
Coulson is arrested. Goodman, the paper’s former royal correspondent who served a four-month jail term in 2007, also is arrested on corruption allegations. -
July 2011
The 168-year-old News of the World publishes its final edition with the headline “Thank you and goodbye.” -
July 2011
The FBI launches an investigation into allegations that News Corp. employees or associates hacked into the phones of 9/11 victims, a federal source says. -
October 2011
News International agrees to pay £2 million (about U.S. $3.2 million) to the family of Milly Dowler. Also, Murdoch will pay £1 million (about U.S. $1.6 million) to charities chosen by the Dowler family. -
February 2012
News of the World’s publisher pays out tens of thousands of pounds to settle lawsuits. Actor Steve Coogan gets £40,000 ($63,000) and legal costs; politician Simon Hughes gets £45,000 ($71,000) plus costs; sports agent Sky Andrew gets £75,000 ($119,000) plus costs. Former lawmaker George Galloway gets £25,000 ($40,000) plus costs, and Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former communications director, will be paid costs and damages. -
April 2012
Rupert Murdoch admits at the Leveson inquiry that there had been a “cover-up” of phone hacking at his flagship British tabloid newspaper and apologized for not paying more attention to the scandal. -
September 2012
The number of likely victims jumps to more than 1,000 people, according to the top police officer working on the case. -
February 2013
News International settles 144 lawsuits related to phone hacking. Seven cases were not settled and are scheduled to go to trial in June.