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William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
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William Shakespeare is baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
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Shakespeare enters King's New School, a grammar school in Stratford attended by the sons of civil servants like his father. Unfortunately, not much more is known about his early education.
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On Nov 28, 1582, William Shakespeare gets married to Ann Hathaway at the age of 18 and her at 26 years old.
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Six months after getting married, Shakespeare's first child, Susanna, is born and baptized.
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Anne Hathaway gives birth to twins, named Hamnet, Judith. The babies were named after Shakespeare's close friends, Hamnet and Judith Sadler.
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Around 1590, Shakespeare writes Henry VI, Part One, which is his very first play. Around the same time, Shakespeare leaves Stratford to begin work as a playwright and actor in London.
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A playwright named Robert Greene writes a scathing critique of Shakespeare, in which he calls him an "upstart crow" who doesn't belong with Greene's university-educated dramatist crowd.
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Shakespeare publishes "Venus and Adonis," his first long published poem, and it was dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley.
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London theaters become closed due to an outbreak of a bubonic plague that eventually kills a large amount of the city's residents, and Shakespeare uses the break to write poetry.
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Shakespeare publishes "The Rape of Lucrece," which is also dedicated to the Earl of Southampton.
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In the spring of 1594, the London theaters reopen to the public, and over the next five years, Shakespeare's troupe, the Chamberlain's Men, becomes one of the most popular acting groups in London. They were frequently invited to perform in the royal court of Queen Elizabeth I.
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Hamnet, the son of William and Anne, dies at the age of 11 of unknown causes.
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Thanks to his theater work and shrewd investments, Shakespeare buys New Place, the second-largest house in Stratford.
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Writer Francis Meres publishes a glowing review of Shakespeare's work.
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The Chamberlain's Men build the Globe, a wooden theater in London, and Many of Shakespeare's most famous plays were performed for the first time here.
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Shakespeare's father dies and his patron Earl Southampton is sentenced to death for his role in the Essex rebellion. It is believed that the death of his father motivates Shakespeare to write Hamlet around this time. Meanwhile, Shakespeare's plays over the next few years take a dark, brooding tone.
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Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I, King James ascends the throne, and The Chamberlain's Men change their name to the King's Men, and perform before King James many times.
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Shakespeare composes his final plays Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsmen in collaboration with John Fletcher, a replacement playwright for the King's Men. Sadly, the Globe Theatre catches fire during a performance of Henry VIII and burns to the ground.
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Suffering from an unknown illness, William Shakespeare dies on his 52nd birthday. He is later buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford on April 25,1616, the same church where he was baptized.
