A Shakespearean Timeline

1558 Elizabeth I crowned.

1564 William Shakespeare born.

1572 Actors not under the protection of a patron declared rogues and vagabonds.

1576 “The Theatre,” the first public playhouse in London, opens.

1577 “The Curtain,” London’s second playhouse, opens.

1578 James VI (later James I of England) takes over government of Scotland.

1579 Publication of North’s English translation of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans.

1580 Francis Drake returns in triumph form his voyage around the world; travelling players perform at Stratford.

1582 Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway; Susanna is born six months later and the twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585.

1587 “The Rose” theatre opens in London. Mary Queen of Scots is executed.

1588 Spanish Armada defeated.

1589 Shakespeare finds work as an actor in London; he lives apart from his wife for 21 years.

1590-1591 The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew.

1591 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI.

1592 Thousands die of plague in London; theatres closed. 1 Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, Richard III.

1593 The Comedy of Errors.

1594 Shakespeare becomes a shareholder of his theatre company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

1594 Love’s Labour’s Lost.

1595 Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

1596 Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, dies.

1596-1597 King John, The Merchant of Venice, 1 Henry IV.

1597-1598 The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2 Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing.

1598 “The Globe” theatre built.

1598-1599 Henry V, Julius Caesar.

«1599-1600 As You Like It.

1600-1601 Hamlet, Twelfth Night.

1601 Shakespeare’s patron arrested for treason following the Essex rebellion; he is later pardoned.

1602 Troilus and Cressida.

1603 Queen Elizabeth dies and is succeeded by James I; Shakespeare’s theatre company becomes the King’s Men.

1603 Measure for Measure, Othello.

1604 Work begins on the King James Bible.

1604-1605 All’s Well That Ends Well, Timon of Athens, King Lear (Q)

1606 Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra.

1607 Pericles.

1608 Coriolanus.

1609 The Winter’s Tale.

1610 King Lear (F), Cymbeline.

1610 Shakespeare retires to Stratford-upon-Avon.

1611 The Tempest.

1611 King James Bible published.

1613 Henry VIII (All Is True), The Two Noble Kinsmen.

1613 “The Globe” theatre burns down.

1616 Shakespeare dies in Stratford-upon-Avon.

1623 The first folio of Shakespeare’s collected plays is published.

* Some dates are approximate.

taken from some website I can't remember .