1889 Pennsylvania Steel pours first pig iron at Sparrows Point
1916 Bethlehem Steel buys the plant and announces $50 million expansion
1959 Steel plant reaches peak employment of 30,920 after major expansion launched in 1957
2001 Bethlehem Steel files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, seeks to reorganize
2003 Financier Wilbur Ross founds International Steel Group and buys Bethlehem in $1.5 billion deal, creating nation's largest steel producer
2005 India-born billionaire Lakshmi N. Mittal merges his growing steel empire with ISG and forms Mittal Steel Co. NV, the largest steelmaker in the world
2006 Mittal announces a hostile bid for rival Arcelor SA in January, a $33 billion acquisition that would create a global giant
2006 The Department of Justice files suit in August to block the sale for antitrust reasons unless Mittal sells Arcelor's Canadian company, Dofasco Inc. But that sale is blocked by a Dutch trust that controls it. Mittal later offers to sell a Weirton, W.Va., facility instead.
2007 The Justice Department tells Mittal to sell Sparrows Point to maintain competition in the tin-plated steel market in the United States
2008 Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal completes $810 million acquisition of Sparrows Point with plans to invest significantly in the plant and rev up production.
2010 Severstal idles main part of Sparrows Point and temporarily lays off nearly 1,000 workers because of weak economy and demand for steel
2011 Severstal announces it is selling Sparrows Point and two other mills to Renco Group
2012 Reports emerge that Renco has put Sparrows Point on the selling block
Source: The Baltimore Sun archives
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