William Shakespeare is by far the most well known English playwright in history. His ability to determine aspects of the human condition that were unnoticed, and undocumented by literature and science allowed him to create plays that were both confronting, and interesting.

Very little information about Shakespeare is known for sure, but we do know that he was born in Stratford, England. His exact date of birth is unknown, but it has been theorized that his birth may have been on April 23rd 1564. He had seven siblings (one sister, and six brothers), only 5 of which reached adulthood.

In Shakespeare's long career as a playwright, he is thought to have written 37 plays, listed below:

• Henry VI pt 1,2,3 1589-92
• Richard III 1592-93
• The Comedy of Errors 1592-93
• Titus Andronicus 1593-94
• The Taming Of The Shrew 1593-94
• The Two Gentlemen Of Verona 1594-95
• Romeo And Juliet 1594-95
• Love's Labor's Lost 1594-95
• A Midsummer Night's Dream 1595-96
• Richard II 1595-96
• King John 1596-97
• The Merchant Of Venice 1596-97
• Henry IV pt 1,2 1597-98
• Henry V 1598-99
• Much Ado About Nothing 1598-99
• Julius Caesar 1599-1600
• As You Like It 1599-1600
• The Merry Wives Of Windsor 1600-01
• Hamlet 1600-01
• Troilus and Cressida 1601-02
• Twelfth Night 1601-02
• All's Well That Ends Well 1602-03
• Measure for Measure 1604-05
• Othello 1604-05
• King Lear 1605-06
• Macbeth 1605-06
• Antony and Cleopatra 1606-07
• Coriolanus 1607-08
• Timon of Athens 1607-08
• Pericles 1608-09
• Cymbeline 1609-10
• The Winter's Tale 1610-11
• The Tempest 1610-11
• Henry VIII 1612-13

Shakespeare wrote many historical plays, telling events in history (mostly English history) and wrote both tragedy and comedy plays. Shakespeare died on April 23rd 1616, 3 years after completing his final play, Henry VIII.


Resources:
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm
http://www.pubquizhelp.34sp.com/art/shakespeare.html