Timeline Description: William Shakespeare is one of the most famous poets and playwrights in history. He wrote 34 plays and over 150 poems, called sonnets. Shakespeare was not as popular when he was living as he became many years later. His plays are still performed in theaters and made into movies today.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 23, 1564 | William Shakespeare is born. William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. His parents, John and Mary, are happy to welcome another baby after the death of their daughters, Joan and Margaret. |
| 1571 | Shakespeare starts school. Shakespeare starts to attend Big School, which is like elementary school in modern times. It is likely that before he started school, his mother taught him to read and write. |
| 1578 | Shakespeare is forced to leave school. Shakespeare is no longer allowed to go to school to help his father work in his glove-making business. This means that Shakespeare will not be allowed to go to college. |
| 1579 | Shakespeare's sister, Anne, dies. Anne Shakespeare dies and the family is grief-stricken. She was just seven years old, but sadly, it was not unusual for children to die at a young age. |
| 1582 | Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway. 18 year-old William Shakespeare marries 26 year-old Anne Hathaway. He was still young enough that he had to get permission from his parents to get married. |
| 1582 | Shakespeare writes his first poem. Shakespeare writes his first poem, which talks about a his love for a mysterious "dark lady." It was not discovered until 30 years after he wrote it. |
| May 1583 | Shakespeare's first child is born. Susanna, the first child born to William and Anne, is born. Twins named Hamnet and Judith are born two years later. |
| 1590 | Shakespeare writes "The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Shakespeare probably wrote "The Two Gentleman of Verona" in 1590. Most people believe that this is first play, but it is not known for sure. |
| 1592 | Shakespeare has his first hit play. "Henry VI Part 1" plays at the Rose Theatre to between 2,000 and 3,000 people a night for three month in a row. Thomas Nashe, another English playwright, may have written it with him. |
| 1594 | Shakespeare writes "Romeo and Juliet." Shakespeare wrote his classic love story, "Romeo and Juliet," three years before it was published. It was also first performed on stage in 1594 and has been performed more times than any of his other plays. |
| August 1596 | Hamnet Shakespeare dies. Shakespeare's 11 year-old son, Hamnet dies, probably from the plague. There are no more male children to carry on the Shakespeare name after his death. |
| 1599 | The Globe Theatre opens. After a disagreement with their landlord, Shakespeare and one of the actors in his theatre company take their theatre apart and rebuild it across the river. The new theatre is called The Globe. |
| 1607 | Shakespeare spends more time away from the theatre. Shakespeare gets more work writing for other people and spends less time on writing plays and poems. It becomes popular in England to hire writers to write good things about you. |
| April 1616 | Shakespeare dies. Shakespeare dies on either April 22 or 23 in England. The exact cause of his death is not known for sure, but his body is entombed at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. |
| 1623 | Shakespeare's plays are published in First Folio. During Shakespeare's lifetime, most playwrights did not publish their work in books. First Folio is the first known book of Shakespeare's work and is published seven years after his death. |