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Shakespeare was born 1564, and was baptised April 26, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He was born into a prosperous family (his father was a glove maker).
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Shakespeare attended King Edward IV Grammar School in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was schooled there between the ages of 7 and 14, where he would have been introduced to the classic texts that later informed his playwriting.
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Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, which was a shotgun marriage to ensure that their first child was not born out of wedlock. The couple had three children together.
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Shakespeare's first child, Susanna, was born.
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Shakespeare's twins, Judith and Hamnet, are born.
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Shakespeare receives his first mention as a playwright in Robert Greene's Groats-worth of Wit. -
His first poem, Venus and Adonis, was published.
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His first printed play, Titus Andronicus, was published. Titus was the first play by Shakespeare to be published and one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays. -
Shakespeare joined The Lord of Chamberlain's, London's most popular theater troupe in 1594.
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His son Hamnet dies. He was eleven years old. His cause of death is unknown and there is no indication of an increase in the burial rate during this period. He was buried August 11, 1596
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The Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's acting company, built the Globe Theater, a wooden theater in London. Many of Shakespeare's most famous plays were performed for the first time there. -
The Globe Theater burns down during a performance of the play, Henry VIII, on June 29th.
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On 25 March 1616, Shakespeare revised and signed his will. On 23 April, his presumed birthday, he died, aged 52. On 25 April, he was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.