Here are the key dates in the life of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange:

- 1971: born July 3 in Townsville, Australia.

- 1970s and 1980s: nomadic childhood and youth, attends 37 schools.

- 1990s: becomes a computer programmer and software developer, discovers a talent for hacking.

- 2003 (until 2006): studies Physics and Mathematics at the University of Melbourne.

- 2006: sets up Wikileaks.org with the aim of letting whistleblowers post sensitive documents on the Internet without being traced.

- 2010: Swedish prosecutors issue an arrest warrant, saying he is wanted over allegations of rape and sexual assault involving two women earlier that month. He denies the charge.

- 2010: WikiLeaks publishes classified military documents from the Iraq war. Assange becomes a pariah in the US.

- 2012: to escape extradition from Britain, he requests political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he is allowed to stay by the government in Quito.

- 2016 : WikiLeaks publishes 20,000 hacked emails from the US election campaign team of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

- 2017: Swedish prosecutors drop their rape probe.

- end of 2017: becomes an Ecuadorian citizen.