The significance of Gray's cyanobiphenyls in the discovery of the partially bilayer smectic A phase (SmA d ) and in the formulation of mixtures exhibiting the blue phase is described. The properties of the SmA d phase and its relationships to molecular structures are reviewed. Induced phenomena such as the transformation of nematics into smectics, SmA d or SmA 1 , as well as the opposite transformation of smectics into nematics are described and discussed.