Today in Playwright History
Sub-Topics: Anton Chekhov - Edward Albee - George Bernard Shaw - Neil Simon - Oscar Wilde - Samuel Beckett - Tennessee Williams - Voltaire - William Shakespeare
Historical Events
Results 1 - 5 of 5
1582-11-28 - Playwright & poet William Shakespeare weds Anne Hathaway
1593-05-18 - Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1778-03-30 - Playwright Voltaire crowned with laurel wreath
1793-11-03 - French playwright, journalist and feminist Olympe de Gouges is guillotined.
1995-11-10 - In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop) are hanged by government forces.
Famous Birthdays
Results 1 - 100 of 350
0480-09-23 BC - Euripides, Greek playwright (d. 406 BC)
1495-11-21 - John Bale, England, bishop/anti-catholic playwright (Kynge Johan)
1564-04-26 - William Shakespeare, Stratford-on-Avon England, playwright (Hamlet)
1572-06-11 - Ben Jonson, England, playwright/poet (Volpone, Alchemist)
1574-09-16 - Samuel Coster, Dutch physician/playwright (Polyxena)
1578-02-09 - Giambattista Andreini, Italian playwright/actor (L'adamo)
1580-04-18 - Thomas Middleton, English playwright (Game of Chess)
1585-03-16 - Gerbrant A Bredero, Holland, poet/playwright (Klucht van de Koe)
1589-02-05 - Honorat de Brueil seigneur de Racan, French playwright/poet
1607-10-04 - Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla, Span playwright (Del Rey Abajo Ninguno)
1610-07-04 - Paul Scarron, French playwright (Virgile Travesti)
1612-02-07 - Thomas Killigrew, English humorist/playwright/leader (King's Men)
1615-03-06 - Jan Zoet, actor/playwright/poet (Parnasssus aan 't Y)
1619-03-06 - Cyrano de Bergerac, famous nose, playwright (Voyage to the Moon)
1622-01-15 - Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)
1625-08-20 - Thomas Corneille, French playwright
1631-08-09 - John Dryden, English poet/playwright (Heroic Stanzas) [NS=Aug 19]
1632-10-30 - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright (School for Scandal) (or 1751)
1635-05-05 - Philippe Quinault, French playwright (L'amant indiscret)
1638-01-01 - Antoinette du Ligier de la Guard Deshoulieres, French poet/playwright
1640-12-14 - (baptism date) - Aphra Behn, English playwright and novelist (d. 1689)
1652-03-03 - Thomas Otway, England, playwright/poet (Venice Preserved)
1670-01-24 - William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729)
1671-04-06 - Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French playwright/poet (Sacred Odes & Songs)
1683-07-25 - Pieter Langendijk, painter/etcher/playwright (Wiskunstenaars)
1684-11-16 - Abraham Alewijn, Dutch poet/playwright (Puiterveense Helleveeg)
1685-02-10 - Aaron Hill, English playwright/poet (Tragedy of Zara)
1707-02-25 - Carlo Goldoni, Italy, lawyer/playwright (Belisario, Love of 3 Oranges)
1728-01-06 - Domingos dos Reis Quita, Portuguese playwright/poet
1728-04-19 - Francisco Albergati Capacelli, Italian playwright
1728-11-10 - Oliver Goldsmith, English playwright (d. 1774)
1731-09-02 - Johann F von Cronegk, German playwright (Olint und Sophronia)
1732-01-24 - Pierre de Baumarchais, France, playwright (Barber of Seville)
1746-11-15 - Joseph Quesnel, French Canadian composer and playwright (d. 1809)
1748-05-07 - Olympe de Gouges, playwright and feminist revolutionary (d. 1793)
1751-04-09 - Emanuel Schikaneder, [Johann Schickeneder], German playwright [or 9/1]
1751-10-30 - Richard Sheridan, Irish playwright (d. 1816)
1752-02-17 - Friedrich M Klinger, German playwright (Wirrwarr)
1782-09-25 - Charles Robert Maturin, Irish playwright and novelist (d. 1824)
1790-06-01 - Ferdinand Raimund, Austrian playwright (d. 1836)
1795-01-15 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)
1796-12-19 - Manuel Breton de los Herreros, Quel Spain, poet/comic playwright
1798-01-24 - Karl von Holtei, Silezian actor/playwright (Die Vagabunden)
1799-02-04 - Joao Batista da Silva Leitao de Almeida Garret, Portuguese playwright
1802-01-13 - Eduard von Bauernfeld, Vienna, comedic playwright
1803-01-03 - Douglas William Jerrold, London, author/playwright/wit (Punch Mag)
1808-02-04 - Josef Kajetán Tyl, Czech playwright, author of the Czech national anthem(d. 1856)
1813-10-17 - Georg Büchner, German playwright (d. 1837)
1815-05-05 - Eugene-Marin Labiche, French playwright
1818-10-28 - Ivan Turgenev, Russia, novelist/poet/playwright (Fathers & Sons) [OS]
1818-11-09 - Ivan Turgenev, Russia, novelist/poet/playwright (Fathers & Sons) [NS]
1820-01-22 - Hermann von Lingg, German playwright/poet
1821-09-24 - Cyprian K Norwid, Polish painter/poet/playwright (Wanda)
1822-12-26 - Dion Boucicault, Irish/Us actor/playwright (Rip van Winkle)
1823-04-12 - Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Russian playwright (Artists & Admirers)
1824-07-27 - Alexandre Dumas fils, France, playwright/novelist (Camille)
1828-03-01 - Vittorio Bersezio, [Carlo Nugelli], Italian playwright
1828-03-20 - Henrik Ibsen, Norway, playwright (Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabler)
1829-01-09 - Thomas William Robertson, England, playwright (Caste)
1832-04-04 - Jose Echegaray y Elizaguirre, playwright/scientist (Teatro Escogido)
1834-01-01 - Ludovic Halévy, French playwright (d. 1908)
1838-07-20 - Augustin Daly, American playwright (d. 1899)
1839-02-01 - James A Herne, [J Aherne], US playwright (Hearts of Oak)
1839-06-03 - Paul Lindau, German playwright/critic (Der Herr im Hause)
1839-11-29 - Ludwig Anzengruber, Austrian playwright (Der Schandfleck)
1844-03-19 - Ulrika "Minna" Cant-Johnstown, Finnish playwright (Kovan onnen lapsia)
1844-08-19 - Minna Canth, Finland, novelist/playwright (social evils)
1845-02-03 - Ernest von Wildenbruch, German playwright (Sedan)
1846-02-18 - Wilson Barrett, English playwright (d. 1904)
1846-05-08 - Oscar Hammerstein, Germany, opera/playwright (Kohinoor)
1848-02-04 - [Francois-Victor-]Jean Aicard, Fren playwright/poet (Jeune Croyances)
1850-06-27 - Ivan Vazov, Bulgaria, poet/novelist/playwright (Under the Yoke)
1851-01-25 - Arne Garborg, Norwegian playwright (Bondestudentar)
1851-09-28 - Henry Arthur Jones, English playwright (Judah)
1852-01-29 - Ion Luca Caragiale, Romanian actor/playwright (O Noapte Furtunoasa)
1852-02-21 - [James] Burner Matthews, US playwright/critic (NY Times)
1852-03-05 - Isabella Gregory, Ireland, writer/playwright (Golden Apple)
1852-03-15 - Augusta Gregory, Ireland, playwright/poet/Yates mistress
1855-05-24 - Arthur Wing Pinero, British playwright
1858-01-19 - Eugene Brieux, French playwright (Blanchette, Lesson Avaries)
1858-06-25 - Georges Courteline, [Moineaux], French playwright
1858-12-23 - Vladimir Nemirovitch-Dantshenko, playwright (Life in Russian Theater)
1859-12-12 - Maurice Donnay, French playwright (Lovers)
1860-01-29 - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Tagarov Russia, playwright (Cherry Orchard)
1862-02-22 - Karen Hulda Garborg[-Bergersen], Norwegian playwright (Mot Solen/Eli)
1862-05-15 - Arthur Schnitzler, Austria, playwright/novelist (La Ronde)
1862-11-04 - Eden Phillpotts, England, novelist/poet/playwright (Red Madymaynes)
1862-12-08 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright (La Dame de Chez Maxim's)
1864-01-11 - Thomas Dixon, US attorney/playwright (Flaming Sword)
1865-05-02 - Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909)
1865-07-18 - Laurence Housman, England, author/playwright (Victoria Regina)
1865-09-11 - Rainis, Latvian poet and playwright (d. 1929)
1866-02-09 - George Ade, US, journalist/playwright/humorist (Fables in Slang)
1866-04-04 - George P Baker, US playwright (47 Workshop)
1866-08-12 - Jacinto Benavente y Martínez, Spanish playwright (Nobel 1922)
1866-09-07 - Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist (d. 1947)
1867-05-27 - Arnold Bennett, England, novelist/playwright/critic (Great Babylon)
1868-02-04 - Constance Gore-booth Markiewicy, Irish patriot/playwright/MP
1868-03-16 - Maxim Gorki, USSR, playwright (The Lower Depths) [3/28 NS]
1868-04-01 - Edmond Rostand, France, poet/playwright (Cyrano de Bergerac)
Famous Deaths
Results 1 - 100 of 199
1556-12-23 - Nicholas Udall, English playwright (b. 1504)
1567-05-02 - Marin Drzic, Croatian playwright (Dundo Maroje), dies
1584-01-04 - Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter/cartoonist/playwright, dies at 44
1595-04-25 - Torquato Tasso, Italian poet/playwright, dies at 51
1616-03-06 - Francis Beaumont, Elizabethan playwright, dies (birth date unknown)
1618-08-23 - Gerbrant A Bredero, poet/playwright (Moortje), dies at 33
1634-06-25 - John Marston, English playwright (b. 1576)
1635-08-27 - Lope Felix de Vega, playwright/poet (Angelica, Arcadia), dies at 72
1637-08-06 - Ben Johnson, dramatist/playwright, dies at 65
1639-08-04 - Juan R Alarcon y Mendoza, Mexican/Spanish playwright, dies at 58
1647-05-21 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, poet/playwright (Warenar), dies at about 65
1654-06-07 - Giambattista Andreini, Italian playwright/actor, dies at 76
1661-10-28 - Agustín Moreto y Cavana, Spanish playwright (b. 1518)
1670-01-21 - Honorat de Brueil seigneur de Racan, French playwright, dies at 80
1673-02-17 - Molière, French playwright (b. 1622)
1674-01-11 - Jan Zoet, actor/playwright/poet (Brutal-Roffel), dies at 58
1681-05-25 - Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright (b. 1600)
1688-11-26 - Philippe Quinault, French playwright (L'amant Indiscreet), dies at 53
1692-11-19 - Thomas Shadwell, English poet and playwright
1700-05-01 - John Dryden, English poet/playwright (Rival Ladies), dies
1701-08-20 - Charles Sedley, English playwright (b. 1639)
1715-08-12 - Nahum Tate, English poet/playwright/poet laureate, dies
1721-10-04 - Abraham Alewijn, poet/playwright (Beslikte Swaantje), dies at 36
1725-01-06 - Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Jap playwright (Yotsugi Soga), dies at about 71
1726-03-26 - John Vanbrugh, Dutch/English playwright (Provoked Wife), dies at 62
1743-04-30 - Pedro de Peralta y Barnuevo, Peruvian playwright/poet, dies
1743-08-01 - Richard Savage, English poet/playwright, dies at about 46
1756-07-09 - Pieter Langendijk, painter/etcher/playwright, dies at 72
1758-01-01 - Johann F von Cronegk, German playwright (Codrus), dies at 26
1770-08-26 - Domingos dos Reis Quita, Portuguese playwright/poet, dies at 42
1781-02-15 - Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Saxon playwright/critic, dies
1792-06-04 - John Burgoyne, soldier/playwright, dies
1794-08-14 - George Colman, the Elder, playwright, dies
1804-03-16 - Francisco marquis Albergati Capacelli, Italian playwright, dies at 75
1805-05-09 - Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, poet/playwright, dies at 45
1809-07-03 - Joseph Quesnel, French-Canadian composer and playwright (b. 1746)
1811-11-21 - Heinrich W von Kleist, German playwright, dies at 34
1816-07-07 - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish playwright and politician (b. 1751)
1823-01-17 - Zacharius Werner, German playwright, dies at 36
1829-02-11 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (b. 1795)
1836-09-05 - Ferdinand Raimund, Austrian playwright (b. 1790)
1837-02-19 - Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)
1852-03-04 - Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer and playwright, dies at 43
1852-04-09 - John Howard Payne, actor/playwright (Fair Warning), dies
1855-01-10 - Mary Russell Mitford, Engl playwright/poet (Julian), dies at 67
1857-06-08 - Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright and satirist (b. 1803)
1872-01-21 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian playwright (Sappho/Libussa), dies at 81
1873-11-08 - Manuel Breton de los Herreros, Span poet/comic playwright, dies at 76
1883-05-23 - Cyprian K Norwid, Polish painter/poet/playwright (Wanda), dies
1889-12-10 - Ludwig Anzengruber, Austrian playwright, dies at 50
1890-09-18 - Dion Boucicault, Irish/US actor/playwright (Octoroon), dies at 67
1897-05-12 - Ulrika "Minna" Cant-Johnstown, Finnish playwright, dies at 53
1900-01-30 - Vittorio Bersezio, [Carlo Nugelli], Italian playwright, dies at 71
1901-06-02 - James A Herne, [J Aherne], US playwright (Margaret Fleming), dies
1906-05-23 - Henrik Johan Ibsen, Norwegian playwright (Doll House), dies at 78
1909-01-15 - Ernest von Wildenbruch, German playwright (Das Edle Blut), dies at 63
1909-03-24 - John Millington Synge, Irish dramatist/playwright/poet, dies at 37
1909-05-10 - Johannes de Koo, journalist/playwright, dies
1918-02-09 - Emiel van der Straeten, [Delrue], Flemish playwright, dies at 30
1918-08-08 - Gertrude E Durden Rush, US composer/playwright, dies at 38
1919-01-31 - Paul Lindau, German playwright/critic (Estimate), dies at 79
1921-06-05 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright (Chat and Poche), dies at 58
1924-01-14 - Arne Garborg, Norwegian playwright (Mannfolk), dies at 72
1924-02-09 - Nils Kj'r, Norwegian playwright (Det Lykkelige Valg), dies at 53
1924-12-27 - William Archer, Scottish critic/playwright (Green Goddess), dies at 68
1929-01-07 - Henry Arthur Jones, English playwright (Silver King), dies at 77
1929-06-25 - Georges Courteline [Moineaux], French playwright, dies
1929-07-15 - Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, playwright/poet, dies
1929-09-12 - Rainis, Latvian poet and playwright (b. 1865)
1931-11-03 - Rudolf W Canne, Fries playwright (Peaske), dies at 60
1932-05-22 - Lady Augusta, [Isabella Gregory], playwright (Gold Apple), dies at 80
1932-09-05 - Francisco Acebal, Spanish novelist, playwright and journalist (b. 1866)
1935-01-06 - George P Baker, US playwright (Dramatic Technique), dies at 68
1937-03-25 - John Drinkwater, English poet/playwright (Bird in Hand), dies at 54
1938-07-18 - Vladimir M Kirshon, Russian playwright, executed at 35
1939-08-23 - Sidney Coe Howard, playwright (Silver Cord, Pulitzer 1925), dies at 48
1942-02-02 - Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1905)
1942-11-03 - Carl Sternheim, German playwright (Trousers, Snob), dies at 64
1943-04-25 - Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko, playwright/director, dies
1943-05-24 - Vladimir I Nemirovitch-Dantshenko, Russian playwright, dies at 84
1944-05-16 - George Ade, US novelist/playwright (Counsel Widow), dies at 78
1945-02-16 - Rudolf Vornlund, Swedish playwright (Upproret), dies at 45
1945-06-04 - Georg Kaiser, playwright, dies at 66
1946-06-28 - Eduard Veterman, Dutch painter/playwright, dies in an auto accident
1947-12-07 - Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist (b. 1866)
1949-05-05 - Maurice Maeterlinck, Belg playwright (Grand Fairie, Nobel 1911), dies
1953-11-27 - Eugene O'Neill, playwright (Nobel 1936), dies in Boston at 65
1954-07-14 - Jacinto Benavente y Martinez, Spanish playwright, dies at 87
1955-02-23 - Paul Claudel, French poet/playwright (L'otage), dies at 86
1957-07-24 - Sacha Guitry, actor/playwright/director (Lovers & Thieves), dies at 72
1958-05-16 - Jeroom Verten [Jozef F Vermetten], Flemish playwright, dies at 49
1958-07-04 - Adolf Herckenrath, Flemish playwright/poet (Avondvlam), dies at 79
1958-08-22 - Roger Martin du Gard, novelist/playwright, dies
1958-10-29 - Zoe Akins, American playwright (b. 1886)
1961-03-06 - Kjeld Abell, Danish playwright/director of Tivoli, dies at 59
1961-06-02 - George S Kaufman, playwright/dir/pulitzer prize winner, dies at 72
1962-01-20 - Robinson Jeffers, poet/playwright (Dear Judas), dies at 75
1963-02-02 - Herman Bouber, [Blom], actor/playwright (Bluejackets), dies at 77
1963-08-14 - Clifford Odets, US playwright (Golden Boy), dies at 57
1963-09-21 - Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (b. 1899)
