​William Shakespeare is argued to be one of the greatest playwrights in history. He's also someone every English teacher ever fangirls about. Shakespeare was the oldest child in his household (his two older sisters died in their infancy). His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker, but also was a civic worker on the side, which meant that he had a bit more money than the average Joseph in England. Because of this, Shakespeare (and probably his siblings) was able to attend grammar school, which was huge during the time period when 80% of Englishmen were illiterate. Other than that, we don't know much about Shakespeare's early years or his education. Conspiracy theorists take this uncertainty as a signal that Shakespeare didn't write his own works. When Shakespeare turned eighteen, he hurried and married Anne Hathaway (26 years his senior!). Why hurried? Well, Anne was already pregnant (a suggestive scandal, perhaps?). Three months after the wedding, Susanna was born. Followed by a set of twins--Hamnet and Judith. Then he went into hiding for 7 consecutive years, which are known as his "lost years." In 1592, Shakespeare jumpstarted his career in London. His first two published works were some poems and he founded an actor's troupe (which he acted in) that morphed into the King's Men (Shakespeare's infamous acting troupe) later on. During this time, he was a regular dramatist, producing two plays every year for twenty years! Tragedy struck in 1596, though, when Hamnet died at age eleven. Unsuprisingly, from then to 1603, Shakespeare produced some of his greatest tragedies. In 1599, the Globe Theatre was built, a gigantic circular theater that was the first open air theater. Shakespeare become a sensational success, growing extremely wealthy under the patronage of the royal family (Queen Elizabeth I and King James I). He bought the largest house in Stratford-Avon lovingly nicknamed "New Place." He split his time between home and London. In 1603, he gave up acting and focused all his energies on playwrighting. Shakespeare died in 1616 and left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest daughter. His wife, Anne Hathaway, was given his "second-best bed" and not much more, suggesting the couple had a falling out sometime in Shakespeare's life.  Suprisingly, none of Shakespeare's original manuscripts remain. A couple of friends got together after Shakespeare's death and compiled his works into what is termed as the First Folio and thanks to them, we have Shakespeare's works.