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1387 BCE
Canterbury Tales
Chaucer begins an ambitious scheme for 100 Canterbury Tales, of which he completes only 24 by the time of his death -
1464
Tales of King Arthur
Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
1564
Marlowe and Shakespeare
Marlowe and Shakespeare are born in the same year, with Marlowe the older by two months -
Shakespeare's first masterpiece
After tentative beginnings in the three parts of Henry VI, Shakespeare achieves his first masterpiece on stage with Richard III -
Hamlet
Shakespeare's central character in Hamlet expresses both the ideals of the Renaissance and the disillusion of a less confident age -
The Tempest
Shakespeare's last complete play, The Tempest, is performed -
William Shakespeare dies
William Shakespeare dies in New Place, his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, and is buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity -
Thirty-six works by Shakespeare
John Heminge and Henry Condell publish thirty-six works by Shakespeare in the First Folio -
Anne Bradstreet
The poems of Massachusetts author Anne Bradstreet are published in London under the title The Tenth Muse recently emerged in America -
English Literature
In Scotland, English literature first enters the university, but it does so under the (to us) strange- sounding label of ‘Rhetoric and Belles English Literary Studies: Origins and Nature 17Lettres’. -
First Professor of English Language and literature
University College London began teaching and included on its staff Britain’s first ‘Professor of English Language and Literature’ -
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens, 24, begins publishing his first fiction work, Pickwick Papers, monthly (published in book form in 1837) -
Charles Dickens´ first novel
Charles Dickens' first novel, Oliver Twist, begins to be published monthly (in book form, 1838) -
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels, after running a textile factory in Manchester, publishes The condition of the working class in England -
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens begins the publication in monthly issues of David Copperfield, his own favorite among his novels. -
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin presents the theory of evolution in The Origin of Species, the result of 20 years of research -
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a story development he told Alice Liddell three years earlier -
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll publishes Through the mirror, a second story of Alice's adventures -
The Hunting of the snark
Lewis Carroll publishes The Hunting of the Snark, a poem about a journey in search of an elusive mythical creature -
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes appears in Conan Doyle's first novel, A Study in Scarlet -
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the portrait of the younger and younger hero becomes old and ugly -
Oscar Wilde`s comedy
Oscar Wilde's comedy, Lady Windermere's Fan, is a huge success for the public at the St. James Theater in London -
Bram Stoker
The English author Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, his gothic history of vampirism in Transylvania -
Bram Stoker
The English author Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, his gothic history of vampirism in Transylvania -
Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter publishes in charge The story of Peter Rabbit -
James Joyce
James Joyce's novel, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, begins serial publication in a London newspaper, The Egoist -
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein publishes his influential study of the philosophy of logic, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus -
Archibald Mac Leish
The American poet Archibald MacLeish publishes an epic narrative, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico -
Evelyn Waugh
British author Evelyn Waugh publishes a classic Fleet Street novel, Scoop, featuring Lord Copper, owner of The Beas -
Enid Blyton
English children's writer Enid Blyton presents the famous five out of five on a treasure island -
T.S Eliot
The separate poems that form the Four Quartets of TS Eliot meet for the first time in a single volume, published in New York -
Titus Groan
Titus Groan begins the trilogy of Gothic novels by British author Mervyn Peake -
CS Lewis
CS Lewis gives Narnia's first vision in The Lion, the Witch and the Closet -
James Bond
James Bond, Agent 007, has a license to kill in Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale -
JRR Tolkien
British philologist JRR Tolkien publishes the third and final volume of his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings -
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl publishes a fantasy gift for a hungry boy, Charlie and the chocolate factory -
Stephen Hawking
British physicist Stephen Hawking explains the cosmos to the general reader in A brief history of time: from the Big Bang to black holes -
Harry Potter
A school magician performs his first tricks in Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone of JK Rowling
