Literary Chronology

1580: John Webster is born in London, England, probably in 1579 or 1580. Like most of the facts about Webster's life, his birthdate is not recorded in any documents.

1623: John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi is published.

1634: John Webster dies. Though no records of his death have been found, references to Webster in the work of other writers seem to indicate that he died no later than late 1634.

1874: Hugo von Hofmannsthal is born on February 1 in Vienna, Austria.

1874: Zona Gale is born on August 26 in Portage, Wisconsin, a small-town setting to which she frequently returns in her novels and plays.

1885: Alice Gerstenberg is born on August 2 in Chicago, Illinois.

1896: Robert Emmet Sherwood is born in New Rochelle, New York.

1903: Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Electra is first performed.

1905: Dore Schary is born on August 31 in Newark, New Jersey.

1906: Clifford Odets is born on July 18 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1908: William Saroyan (also known as Sirak Goryan) is born on August 31 in Fresno, California.

1911: Tennessee Williams (born Thomas Lanier Williams) is born on March 26 in Columbus, Mississippi.

1915: Alice Gerstenberg's Overtones is first produced.

1916: Helene Hanff is born on April 15 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1920: Zona Gale's Miss Lulu Bett is published.

1921: Zona Gale is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama for Miss Lulu Bett.

1925: Frank D. Gilroy is born on October 13 in the Bronx, New York.

1929: Hugo von Hofmannsthal dies from a heart attack on July 15 at his home in Rodaun, near Vienna, Austria.

1935: Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forest is first performed.

1937: Clifford Odets's Golden Boy is published.

1938: Zona Gale dies of pneumonia on December 27 in Chicago.

1939: William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life is first produced.

1940: William Saroyan is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama for The Time of Your Life.

1945: August Wilson (born Frederick August Kittel) is born on April 27 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1950: Wendy Wasserstein is born on October 8 in Brooklyn, New York.

1955: Robert E. Sherwood dies from a heart attack in New York City.

1957: Tennessee Williams's Orpheus Descending is first produced.

1958: Dore Schary's Sunrise at Campobello is first produced.

1963: Clifford Odets dies on August 14 in Los Angeles.

1964: Frank D. Gilroy's The Subject Was Roses is first produced.

1965: Frank D. Gilroy is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama for The Subject Was Roses.

1970: Helene Hanff's 84, Charing Cross Road is published.

1972: Alice Gerstenberg dies on July 28 in Chicago.

1980: Dore Schary dies from cancer on July 7 in New York City.

1981: William Saroyan dies from cancer on May 18 in Fresno, California. He is cremated, with half his ashes interred in Fresno and the other half in Armenia.

1983: Tennessee Williams dies on February 24, when he chokes on a medicine bottle lid in a New York City hotel.

1986: August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone is first produced.

1993: Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig is published.

1997: Helene Hanff dies from pneumonia on April 9 in New York City.