1557 Shakespeare's father John marries Mary Arden
1558 Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
1564 William Shakespeare born in Stratford upon Avon; baptised in Holy Trinity Church
1567 Public playhouse the Red Lion opens in London
1568-9 John Shakespeare serves as Bailiff of Stratford
1572 Leicester's Men perform at Stratford
1574 Warwick's Men perform at Stratford
1575 Festivities at Kenilworth Castle to mark visit of Queen Elizabeth I
1576 James Burbage builds the Theatre in London
1577 Raphael Holinshed's "Chronicles" first published
1580 One of the last performances of the great cycle of mystery plays acted by the craft guilds at Coventry, maybe witnessed by Shakespeare who lives nearby
1582 Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway
1583 Birth of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna; formation of new company of players, the Queen's Men
1585 Birth of Shakespeare's twins Hamnet and Judith
1587 Expulsion of John Shakespeare from Corporation of Stratford; possible date for Shakepseare's move from Stratforsd to London; execution of Mary Queen of Scots, mother of future James I of England
1588 Failed attempt by Spanish Armada to land in England
1592 Personal attack on Shakespeare in Riobert Greene's "Groatsworth of Wit"
1592-3 Plague closes London theatres
1594 Publication of Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis
1595 Publication of Shakespeare's poem The Rape Of Lucrece; Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors performed at Gray's Inn
1596 Shakespeare a member of Lord Chamberlain's Men who perform at court
1596 Death of Shakespeare's son Hamnet; Shakespeare applies successfully for College of Arms for his father to be made a gentleman
1597 Shakespeare buys New Place, the second-largest house in Stratford; Shakespeare listed as a tax-defaulter in London
1598 Shakespeare listed for hoarding corn and malt in Stratford
1599 Globe Theatre built in Southwark; Swiss traveller Thomas Platter records watching Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in London
1601 Shakespeare's Richard II performed at the Globe by Lord Chamberlain's Men; Earl of Essex attempts coup in London and is executed, which Shakespeare's patron the Earl of Southampton is put in the Tower of London; poem by Shakespeare, The Phoenix and the Turtle, is published; John Shakespeare dies.
1602 Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is performed at the Middle Temple
1603 Queen Elizabeth I dies and is succeeded by King James I; Lord Chamberlain's Men now become King's Men
1603-4 Shakespeare plays major role at court in ben Jonson's tragedy Sejanus his Fall
1604 Five or more plays by Shakespeare performed at court in November and December
1605 Shakespeare buys portion of tithes in and near Stratford; Gunpowder Plotters are foiled attempting to blow up the King and parliament
1607 Marriage of Susanna Shakespeare to John Hall in Stratford; burial of Shakespeare's brother Edmund, an actor, in Southwark, London
1608 Birth of Shakespeare's grand-daughter Elizabeth Hall; death of Shakespeare's mother Mary; publication of the History of King Lear
1608-9 Kings Men begin to perform at indoor Blackfriars theatre
1609 Severe wave of plague closes London theatres; publication of Shakespeare's sonnets with A Lovers Complaint
1610 Shakespeare's The Tempest performed at court
1613 Marriage of king's daughter Elizabeth to Frederick, elector Palatine; Shakespeare buys property at Blackfriars, London; FGGlobe theatre burns to ground and is rebuilt within a year; fire in Stratford destroys 54 houses, none owned by Shakespeare
1614 Opening of rebuilt Globe Theatre, probably now without Shakespeare as a sharer
1616 Shakespeare dictates two drafts of his will, either side of marries of his daughter Judith to Stratford tradesman Thomas Quiney; Shakespeare dies and is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford
1619 Death of Richard Burbage, leading Kings Man and former colleague of Shakespeare
1623 Death of Shakespeare's widow Anne; publication of Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories and Tragedies, otherwise knows as the First Folio, edited by Shakespeare's friends and fellow Kings Men John Heminges and Henry Condell
