A Shakespeare Chronology
1564: April 26, baptized in Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England (Scholars assume William was born three days prior on April 23 to John and Mary (née Arden) Shakespeare.
1582: November 28, married Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare was 18, Anne was in her mid 20s.
1583: May 26, first child Susanna baptized
1585: February 2, twins Hamnet and Judith baptized
1585-1592: Period known as the lost years. Endless speculation on what Shakespeare might have been doing.
1592: Shakespeare is mentioned disparagingly as a new London playwright in a pamphlet by Robert Greene.
1592-1612: An actor in London with the Lord Chamberlain's Men and later the King's Men.
1592-93: Publishes Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. Author William Shakespeare acknowledged on the title page. The narrative poems are dedicated to the Earl of Southhampton, Henry Wriothesley.
1595-96 Probable period for the first production of Richard II. First printed quarto edition in 1597. (Shakespeare's name is not on the title page.)
1598: Became part owner of the newly constructed Globe Theatre which opened in 1599. Ticket sales at the theater were the basis for Shakespeare's wealth.
1604-1605: Probable date for the first production of King Lear. First printed in a quarto edition December-January 1607-08. Wm Shakespeare's name is on the title page.
1611: Probable date for first production of The Tempest. This play was first printed in Shakespeare's First Folio.
1613: Globe Theatre burns down during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Shakespeare retires to Stratford at or before this time.
1616: April 26, Shakespeare is buried in Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon. (Scholars assume he died three days earlier putting his death on April 23.) Cause of death is unknown.
1623: Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's widow dies. She was 67 years old.
1623: Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio compiled and edited by two fellow actors:
John Heminges and Henry Condell. The book includes 36 plays but none of the
poems.