World Theatre History

753BC Founding of Rome
218-01BC Comedies of Plautus produced in Rome
168BC Beginning of Roman domination of Western World
166-61BC Comedies of Terence produced in Rome
55BC Caesar invades Britian
48BC Destruction by fire of the great Library of Alexandria, many Greek plays lost forever
46-44BC Dictatorship of Julius Caesar
44BC Assination of Julius Caesar
40BC Herod, King of Judea
30BC Death of Anthony and Cleopatra, annexation of Egypt
27BC End of Roman Republic
22BC Pantomimes introduced in Rome, Death of Jesus, Beginning of Christianity in East
43 City of London founded
54-68 Reign of Nero
64 Great fire in Rome
65 Seneca commits suicide
313 Christians given freedom of religion
380 All Roman subjects ordered to accept Christianity
771-814 Reign of Charlemange
800 Charlemange crowned 1st Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III
1000 Vikings discover America, Chinese invent gunpowder
1096-99 First Crusade
1099 Crusaders conquer Jerusalem
1145-47 Second Crusade
1189-93 Third Crusade
1202-04 Fourth Crusade
1215 King John of England signs the Magna Carta
1244 Christians lose Jerusalem
1249 Oxford University founded
1271-95 Marco Polo travels to China
1337 Start of Hundred Years war between England and France
1347-51 Black Death (bubonic plague) kills 75 million people
1370’s Corpus Christi cycle start
1396 Study of Greek literature begins in France
1412 Birth of Joan of Arc
1428 Joan of Arc directs French army against the English
1449 Birth of Leonardo da Vinci
1453 Fall of Eastern Roman Empire to the Turks
1455 War of the Roses begins in England, Gutenburg Bible printed around this time period)
1486 De architectura published
1492 Columbus sails to the new world, Spain united as single kingdom
1500 Columbus returns to Spain in chains
1509 War between Spain and France, Henry VII begins reign
1519-1522 Magellan first to sail around the world
1530 Religious wars in Switzerland betwen Protestants and Catholics
1533 Birth of future Queen Elizabeth of England, Henry VIII excomunicated
1538 The name “America is used for the 1st time in Europe
1545 Serlio’s Architetura published
c. 1550 Commedia dell’arte appears
1558 Queen Elizabeth of England begins reign
1562 Start of religious wars in France, birth of Lope de Vega, Beginning of slave trade in Americas
1564 Shakespeare and Marlowe born
1568 First public theatre in Spain
1576 Burbage opens The Theatre in London
1585 Shakespeare arrives in London
1587 Women allowed on Spainish stage,Spanish Church condems theatre
1590 Henri IV begins regin
1599 The Globe built in London
1600 Henry IV of France marries Maria de’Medici, Birth of Calderon
1603 Death of Queen Elizabeth I
1605 Red Bull Playhouse built
1606 Birth of Corneille, Birth of William Davenant
1607 Jamestown colony established
1610 Henry IV assinated
1616 Death of Shakespeare, Jonson’s Works published
1618 Lope’s Fuente Ovejuna
1620 Mayflower sails for America
1622 Birth of Moliere
1630 Theatres closed for seven months because of plague
1635 Death of Lope de Vega
1642 London theatres closed
1643 Moliere founds Illustre Theatre in Paris
1647 Players return to London and perform illegally, New orders passed against theatre
1658 Moliere arrives in Paris, Moliere’s company acts before Louis XIV
1663 Opening of Theatre Royal
1664 Tartuffe controversy begins, Racine’s first play produced
1666 Great London Fire
1680 Formation of Comedie Francaiseron
1689 France declares war on England, Peter the Great Tsar of Russia
1741 David Garrick’s debut as professional actor
1756 War between England and France
1763 End of Seven Years’ War between England and France
1773 Boston Tea Party
1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, Start of the War of American Independance
1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence
1776-1781 American Revolution
1778 France and England at war
1783 England recoginizes the independence of the U.S.
1814 Edmund Kean’s debut at Drury Lane
1817 Gas lighting used at Drury Lane and Covent Garden
1822 Gas lighting at Paris Opera
1830 Hugo’s Hernani, Vestris begins managment of Olympic Theatre
1846 Electricity used at Paris Opera
1853 Birth of George Bernard Shaw
1860 Birth of Checkhov
1861-1865 Civil War
1862 Sarah Bernhardt’s debut
1865 Lincoln Assassinated by an actor in Ford’s Theater, Stanislavsky born
1888 Eugene O’Neill born
1898 Moscow Art Theater established
1903 Wright brothers’ first flight
1905 E. G. Craig publishes Art of Theatre
1906 First radio broadcat in the U.S.A., Death of Ibsen, San Francisco earthquake
1912 Craig and Stanislavski produce Hamlet at MAT, Death of Strindberg
1914 World War I begins., Meyerhold opens Studio in Moscow
1917 U.S. enters WWI
1918 World War I ends, Theatre Guild established
1919 Actors’ strike shuts down Broadway
1925 Hitler reorganizes Nazi party
1927 Lindbergh’s solo flight from N.Y.C. to Paris, Sound films introduced in the U.S.A.
1929 Stockmarket collapses in U.S.A., Beginning of Great Depression
1934 Japan invades China, Hitler&Nazis take control of Germany
1936 Civil war begins in Spain
1939 Germany invades Poland: WWII begins
1945 First atomic bomb explodes: WWII ends
1961 Joe Cino begins to use Cafe Cino has an art center, Ellen Stewart creates the LaMama Experimental Theatre Club
1963 Asassination of President John F. Kennedy
The Birth of Mr. Bengford