This document provides a timeline of the lives and careers of two famous American authors, Washington Irving and Mark Twain. It outlines the major events in their lives, including Irving's early literary works in the 1800s that established him as the first American literary celebrity. It also details Twain's upbringing in Missouri, career as a riverboat pilot, travels out West, breakthrough short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," marriage, and establishment as a famous author with works like The Innocents Abroad.

1. AUTHORS TIMELINE

2. WASHINGTON IRVING TIMELINE

3. • 1783: Born in New York City on April
• Much against the family tradition of becoming
merchants, young Irving had an inherent interest in
literature and pursued the same. Interestingly, his
brothers supported him in his literary pursuits,
monetarily helping him chase his passion.
• Academically, he wasn’t a dedicated student and
instead preferred to attend theatre than sit in class.
It was during the outbreak of the 1798 yellow fever
that he left Manhattan for health reasons.

4. • In 1802, he started submitting letters to the New York
Morning Chronicle under the pen name, Jonathan Oldstyle.
This was the modest beginning of his legendary literary
career.
• From 1804 to 1806, he undertook a trip to Europe learning
the social and conversational skills that helped him at the
later stages of life. In between, he was also persuaded to
take up painting as a profession which did not materialize.
• Upon returning from Europe, he took up law classes under
Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman, his legal mentor. In 1806, he
just about passed the bar examination.

5. In 1807, with the help of his brother and friend, he started a literary
magazine, Salmagundi. The content of the magazine included critical
comments on New York’s culture and politics.
The success of Salmagundi built his reputation outside New York. It
was in 1809 that he completed his first major book titled, ‘A History
of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch
Dynasty’. The book met with immediate critical and popular success.
Post the impressive success in his debut venture, he acquired the
position of an editor at the Analectic Magazine. In the new capacity,
he did some outstanding work, the most remarkable amongst which
was reprinting Francis Scott Key's poem that would go on to become
the national anthem of the United States.

6. • He was opposed to the War of 1812 but when the British
attacked Washington D. C in 1814, he changed his mind
enlisted. In 1814, he was drafted as the staff of Daniel
Tompkins, governor of New York and commander of the
New York State Militia. The devastating and ruinous nature
of the war led him to leave for England in 1815.
• Despite his attempts to reinstate the family’s financial
position, the family was declared bankrupt. It was during
this time that he first created the legendary character of
‘Rip Van Winkle’.

7. • In 1819, he sent his brother in New York a set of short piece of prose
titled, ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’ to get it published.
The first instalment was received with much praise and success
leading to the publication of the equally successful seven follow-ups.
• The soaring literary career gave him a star status in Europe. To
prevent piracy and illegal reprinting of his works, he appointed John
Murray as his preferred publisher.
• Together with Murray, he was eager to replicate the success of his
‘Sketch Book’. As such, he spent much of 1821 exploring Europe for a
new material. Moving past various hurdles, he finally submitted his
work in 1822.

8. • In June 1822, ‘The Bracebridge Hall’ was published. The book was
similar to his previous venture, narrating about fifty short stories that
are loosely connected to each other. It met with much success further
cementing his reputation as an author.
• In 1823, he collaborated with playwright John Howard Payne working on
translating French plays in English. However, the same did not meet
with much success. The following year, he published a collection of essays
titled, ‘Tales of a Traveller’, which though commercially moderately
successful was critically panned.
• The bad reception of the book caused him to retreat to Paris where he
thought of new ideas for projects that somehow never came to frame. It
was in 1826 that he received a letter from Alexander Hill Everett in
which he sent him an invitation to move to Madrid.

9. • At Madrid, he was exposed to a number of manuscripts that dealt
with the Spanish conquest of America. He gained full access to the
American library of Spanish history and began working on the new-
found material.
• His first piece of work from his new material was ‘A History of the Life
and Voyages of Christopher Columbus’, which was published in
January 1828. The book reigned at the book shelves and was
extremely popular in the US and Europe. It had 175 editions and was
the first book which he published in his own name.
• The great success of this book led him to publish ‘Chronicle of the
Conquest of Granada’ the following year. Furthermore, he published
his third venture in Spanish books, ‘Voyages and Discoveries of the
Companions of Columbus’. Interestingly, all his three books ad a mix
of both history and fiction.

10. • In 1829, he left for England after being appointed as the Secretary to the
American Legation in London. He took the role of aide-de-camp. In the
new capacity, he tried to strike trade negotiation between the United
States and the British West Indies.
• He did not continue in the new position for long and resigned from his
duties to concentrate on his writing. He started completing his unfinished
work of 1829 titled, ‘Tales of the Alhambra’ which was published in the
US and England in 1832.
• In 1832, he returned to New York after seventeen year of hiatus. He
toured some of the cities of US and came out with his next work, titled, ‘A
Tour on the Praries’. The book met with grand success.

11. • In 1836, he came up with a biographical account of Jacob Astor’s fur
trading company, ‘Astoria’. The following year, he released the book,
‘The Adventures of Captain Bonneville’.
• He was offered to write essays and short stories for The
Knickerbocker magazine. Furthermore, he became an advisor to the
budding authors who approached him for advice and endorsements.
• In 1842, he was appointed as the Minister to Spain by President John
Tyler. In the new capacity, he found himself in the middle of political
mayhem which Spain was experiencing. No sooner, he was exhausted
by the turn of events and the political chaos.
• An American celebrity

12. • After receiving warm praise from the literary and academic communities, Irving set
out on a tour of the rugged western part of the country, which took him as far as
Oklahoma. The expedition resulted in three books about the region, notably A Tour
on the Prairies (1835), which provided easterners with their first description of life
out west by a well-known author. Irving eventually settled near Tarrytown, New
York, at a small estate on the Hudson River, which he named Sunnyside.
• Among the notable works of Irving's later years is an extensive biography of George
Washington (1732–1799), which he worked on determinedly, despite ill health, from
the early 1850s until a few months before his death in 1859. As America's first
literary star with stories like "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,"
Irving established an artistic standard and model for later generations of American
short story writers.

13. MARK TWAIN TIMELINE

14. • Nov 30, 1835
• Mark Twain Born
• Samuel Langhorne Clemens is born in Florida, Missouri, the sixth child of John Marshall
and Jane Lampton Clemens.
• 1839
• Family Moves to Hannibal
• The Clemens family moves to Hannibal, Missouri, a riverbank town that is a frequent stop
for steamboats traveling the Mississippi. Young Samuel reveres the riverboat pilots and
hopes to become one himself.

15. • 1847
• Death of Twain's Father
• Samuel's father John Clemens dies, forcing the family into financial hardship.
• 1851
• Twain Takes Work as Printer
• At the age of 15, Samuel leaves school and goes to work as a printer in Hannibal.
• 1857
• Apprentice River Pilot
• Samuel Clemens begins a successful two-year apprenticeship to become a licensed
river pilot. He learns the lingo of the trade, including "mark twain," a phrase that
refers to the river depth at which a boat is safe to navigate. He soon adopts it as his
pen name.

16. • Jun 1858
• Death of Twain's Brother
• Twain's youngest brother Henry is killed tragically at the age of 20 in an explosion on
the steamboat Pennsylvania. Henry had been training to become a steamboat pilot, at
Twain's encouragement. Twain, devastated by his brother's death, feels responsible for it
for the rest of his life.
• Apr 1861
• Civil War
• The Civil War breaks out. Trade along the Mississippi River is halted, forcing an end to
Twain's steamboat career. Twain spends two weeks training in a volunteer Confederate
militia before it disbands.
• 1862
• Twain Travels West
• In an adventure later chronicled in the book Roughing It, Twain travels to Nevada with
his brother Orion, who had been named the secretary to the territorial governor. He tries
his hand at mining and other schemes, without much success, before becoming a
reporter for the Virginia City (Nev.) Daily Territorial Enterprise.

17. • 1864
• Twain in California
• Twain travels to northern California, visiting Calavaras County before settling in
San Francisco.
• Nov 18, 1865
• "Jumping Frog" Published
• The short story "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (later "The Celebrated Jumping
Frog of Calavaras County") appears in the New York Saturday Press. The story
proves extremely popular and raises Twain's profile as a writer.
• 1866
• Twain Begins Lecturing
• Twain travels to Hawaii as a reporter for San Francisco's Alta California newspaper.
When he returns to the mainland a few months later, he gives his first public
lecture. It's a hit.

18. • Dec 31, 1867
• Twain Meets Future Wife
• Twain is introduced to Olivia "Livy" Langdon, the sister of a friend. He is instantly smitten.
• 1869
• The Innocents Abroad Published
• Mark Twain's first book, The Innocents Abroad, becomes a bestseller.
• 1870
• Twain Weds, Fathers First Child
• Twain marries Olivia Langdon, who becomes an important editor of his work. Their son Langdon is born later that year.
• 1872
• Twain in Connecticut
• Twain moves his family to Hartford, Connecticut. He publishes Roughing It, the memoir of his years in the West. The
year is one of tragedy and joy—the couple's daughter Susy is born, but their son Langdon dies of diphtheria.
• 1873
• Twain Publishes The Gilded Age
• Twain publishes the satiric novel The Gilded Age, its title giving a name to an entire era of American history. His most
successful invention, the self-pasting scrapbook, makes its debut the same year.

19. • 1874
• Clara Clemens Born
• Daughter Clara is born, the only one of Twain's children to outlive her father.
• 1876
• Tom Sawyer
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is published.
• 1880
• Jean Clemens Born
• Livy Clemens gives birth to the couple's fourth and final child, a daughter named Jean.
• 1883
• Life on the Mississippi
• Twain publishes Life on the Mississippi, his memoir of his years as a steamboat pilot.
• 1884
• Twain Founds Publishing Company
• Twain founds his own publishing company, Charles L. Webster & Co. (named after his nephew and co-
owner Charles L. Webster). It turns out to be a bad financial move—the company's struggles will
eventually ruin his family's finances.

20. • 1885
• Huck Finn
• In the span of less than a year, Twain publishes both his greatest fiction and non-fiction works: The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and a biography of President Ulysses S. Grant.
• 1889
• Connecticut Yankee
• Twain publishes A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Critics slam the book.
• 1891
• Twain in Europe
• His finances in shambles following a series of poor business decisions, Twain moves his family from
Hartford to Europe for cheaper living.
• 1894
• Twain's Last Novel
• Pudd'nhead Wilson, Twain's last novel, is published. After ten difficult years, Twain's publishing
house, Charles L. Webster & Co., finally goes belly-up. The writer finds himself essentially
bankrupt. Close friend Henry Huttleston Rogers takes over his finances, saving him from complete
disaster.

21. • 1895
• Lecture Tour
• Twain hits the road for a worldwide lecture tour in order to pay back his creditors.
• 1896
• Death of Susy Clemens
• Twain's 24-year-old daughter Susy dies of meningitis in the U.S. while Twain is
lecturing in Europe. Twain, who was particularly close to his oldest daughter, is
devastated. He never fully recovers from her death, which marks the end of his most
successful period as a writer.

22. • 1904
• Death of Livy Clemens
• Twain's wife Livy dies after a serious two-year illness. Following his wife's death, Twain moves to New York City and
begins writing his autobiography.
• Oct 25, 1906
• Family Troubles
• Twain's youngest daughter Jean is institutionalized due to severe epilepsy. Twain's biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine,
moves in with Twain to collect material.
• 1908
• Angelfish Club
• Twain moves into a house in Connecticut that he names Stormfield. Lonely and missing his wife and daughters, he
forms a club of young girls called the Angelfish Club who meet regularly at his house to play cards.
• 1909
• Death of Jean Clemens
• Twain's youngest daughter Jean Clemens dies.
• Apr 10, 1910
• Death of Mark Twain
• Mark Twain dies at the age of 74 at his home in Redding, Connecticut.

23. EDGARD ALLAN POE TIMELINE

24. • Jan 19, 1809
• Poe Born
• Edgar Poe is born in Boston to Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe, Jr., both traveling actors. The
couple already has one son named Henry.
• Dec 10, 1810
• Sister Born
• Poe's sister Rosalie is born. Shortly after her birth, or possibly even before it, David Poe deserts the
family, leaving Poe's mother alone with three children. Making matters worse, Elizabeth Poe soon
falls ill with tuberculosis.
• Dec 8, 1811
• Parents' Death
• Elizabeth Arnold Poe dies of tuberculosis in Richmond, Virginia. Within days, David Poe also dies
of tuberculosis. With no parents to take care of them, the three children of the family are split up.
Henry goes to live with his paternal grandparents. A Richmond couple, John and Frances Allan,
take in Edgar as a foster child. Rosalie is taken in by another Richmond family named Mackenzie.
Both Edgar and Rosalie adopt their foster families' names as their middle names.

25. • Jun 22, 1815
• England
• The Allan family sails to London, where Edgar enrolls in school.
• Jul 27, 1820
• Back to the USA
• Five years after leaving America for England, the Allans return to Richmond, Virginia.
• Nov 1824
• First Poem
• A fifteen-year-old Edgar Allan Poe pens his first known poem: "Last night, with many
cares & toils oppres'd, / Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest."31
• Feb 14, 1826
• College
• Poe enrolls midway through the academic year at the University of Virginia, which had
opened less than a year before.

26. • Mar 1827
• Splits with Allans
• After running up a $2,000 gambling debt while at college, Poe gets into an argument with his
foster father when John Allan refuses to give him money to settle the debt. Poe ditches college and
the Allans. He moves to Baltimore to join relatives there.
• May 26, 1827
• Soldier and Published Author
• Poe enlists in the U.S. Army under the name "Edgar A. Perry." Shortly after, his first book—a
poetry collection entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems—is published. The author is listed only as
"A Bostonian."
• Feb 28, 1829
• Death of Foster Mother
• Poe's foster mother, Frances Allan, with whom he was still close, dies in Richmond. Poe—by now a
sergeant major in the Army—obtains leave to travel to her funeral.
• Apr 15, 1829
• West Point
• Poe is appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. A few months later he publishes his
second book of poetry, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems.

27. • 1831
• West Point Reject & Emerging Writer
• Tired of the military, Poe successfully attempts to get himself kicked out of West Point. When he stops going to classes and chapel, Poe is court-martialed and dismissed.
He publishes several anonymous short stories plus another book of poems.
• Aug 1, 1831
• Death of Brother
• Edgar's older brother Henry dies of either tuberculosis or cholera at the age of 27.
• Dec 1835
• Southern Literary Messenger
• Poe takes a job as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger magazine. He publishes critical reviews of other writers' work as well as his own stories and poems.
• May 16, 1836
• Marriage
• Poe—now 27 years old—marries his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, at a ceremony in Richmond, Virginia.
• 1837
• Moves North
• Poe moves his new wife and mother-in-law to New York and then to Philadelphia.
• Jul 1838
• First Novel
• Poe's first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, is published.
• Jul 1839
• Magazine Editor
• Poe is hired as an editor at Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, a job he holds until June 1840.

28. • 1840
• Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
• Poe's story collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is published in two volumes.
• Apr 1841
• Editing Again
• Poe begins as an editor at Graham's Magazine, where he works until May 1842. The magazine
runs Poe's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the first-ever entry in a genre now known
as the detective story.
• Jan 1842
• Virginia Falls Ill
• While singing at the piano, Virginia begins to bleed from her mouth, a symptom of untreated
tuberculosis. Her illness grows progressively worse.
• Nov 1843
• Lecturer
• Poe begins delivering lectures on poetry. He is a popular lecturer, frequently speaking to packed
audiences.

29. • Apr 1844
• New York Bound
• Poe, his wife, and her mother move to New York City, where he gets a job at the New
York Evening Mirror.
• 1845
• "Nevermore"
• Poe publishes the poem , The Raven in the New York Evening Mirror. It is wildly
successful, bringing the writer the fame and fortune that have long eluded him. He
soon becomes editor and owner of a magazine called the Broadway Journal, a
doomed enterprise that is already in debt when Poe takes over.
• Jan 3, 1846
• Magazine Fails
• The Broadway Journal folds due to serious financial problems.

30. • Jan 30, 1847
• Death of Wife
• Poe's wife Virginia dies of tuberculosis at their home in the Bronx. Poe has been so
despondent during the final months of her illness that friends thought he was going
insane. The loss of his wife sends Poe into a downward spiral of alcoholism.
• Nov 1848
• Engagement
• Poe proposes to a poet named Sarah Helen Whitman, who agrees on the condition that
he quit drinking. Poe can't live up to the promise, and Whitman calls off the engagement
a month later.
• Aug 1849
• Engaged Again
• Poe travels to Richmond and convinces his childhood sweetheart, Elmira Royster
Shelton, to become his fiancée. He joins the Sons of Temperance, an organization that
forbids drinking (sort of like a nineteenth-century equivalent of Alcoholics Anonymous).
The next month, Poe travels to Baltimore.

31. • Oct 7, 1849
• Death
• After being found unconscious in a Baltimore gutter,
Edgar Allan Poe is taken to the hospital and
pronounced dead of causes still unknown. He
is buried at Westminster Presbyterian Church in
Baltimore.

32. HARPER LEE TIMELINE

33. • Apr 28, 1926
• Nelle Harper Lee Born
• Nelle Harper Lee is born in Monroeville, Alabama, the youngest of four children of
lawyer Amasa Coleman Lee and homemaker Frances Cunningham Finch Lee.
• Apr 1931
• Scottsboro Boys Trial
• Nine young African-American men are convicted and sentenced to death after two white
women falsely accuse them of rape, in a sensational case known as the Scottsboro Boys
Trial. The boys are released from prison six years later when one of the women recants
her testimony.
• 1932
• Lee Befriends Truman Capote
• Lee befriends a boy in her neighborhood named Truman Streckfus Persons, an eccentric
child sent to live with relatives in Monroeville. They bond instantly. Their friendship
lasts for decades. Also a writer, Truman eventually adopts the pen name Truman Capote.

34. • Apr 28, 1926
• Nelle Harper Lee Born
• Nelle Harper Lee is born in Monroeville, Alabama, the youngest of four children of
lawyer Amasa Coleman Lee and homemaker Frances Cunningham Finch Lee.
• Apr 1931
• Scottsboro Boys Trial
• Nine young African-American men are convicted and sentenced to death after two white
women falsely accuse them of rape, in a sensational case known as the Scottsboro Boys
Trial. The boys are released from prison six years later when one of the women recants
her testimony.
• 1932
• Lee Befriends Truman Capote
• Lee befriends a boy in her neighborhood named Truman Streckfus Persons, an eccentric
child sent to live with relatives in Monroeville. They bond instantly. Their friendship
lasts for decades. Also a writer, Truman eventually adopts the pen name Truman Capote.

35. • 1949
• Career Change
• Lee quits law school and moves to New York City to pursue a career as a writer.
• 1950
• Lee Goes to Work
• Lee supports herself in New York with jobs at the reservation desks of Eastern Air Lines and British
Overseas Airways Corporation. She works for these airlines for several years while writing takes a back
seat.
• Aug 28, 1955
• Emmett Till Murdered
• Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy from Chicago, is murdered by a gang of white men for
allegedly whistling at a white woman. His mother insists on an open casket at his funeral so mourners
can see the brutality of his injuries.
• Dec 1, 1955
• Rosa Parks Tries to Keep Her Seat
• While riding the bus home from work in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42-year-old African-American woman
named Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white passenger. Though she gets arrested, her act of
civil disobedience sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott and becomes one of the defining moments of the
Civil Rights Movement.

36. • Dec 25, 1956
• Lee Returns to Writing
• Lee receives a life-changing Christmas gift. Friends pool money and buy her a year off
from work so that she can concentrate on writing. She supports herself as a writer from
then on.
• 1958
• Writer's Block
• Frustrated and furious with her novel's lack of progress, Lee opens a window in her New
York apartment and hurls the draft of her manuscript out into the snow. She calls her
editor, Tay Hohoff of J.B. Lippincott Company, who orders her to retrieve the materials
immediately.
• 1959
• Investigating the Clutter Family Murders
• Lee travels with her childhood friend Truman Capote to Holcomb, Kansas, to help
research a story he is writing about the murder of a wealthy farming family, the
Clutters. Capote eventually turns the work into a non-fiction narrative book entitled In
Cold Blood.

37. • Jul 11, 1960
• To Kill A Mockingbird
• To Kill A Mockingbird is published by J.B. Lippincott Company. The book is an instant critical and
commercial success.
• 1961
• Pulitzer Prize
• Lee is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill A Mockingbird, at the age of 35.
• Dec 25, 1962
• To the Big Screen
• The film version of To Kill A Mockingbird is released, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and
Mary Badham as Scout. Like the book it's based on, the film is also an immediate success. Lee calls
Horton Foote's screenplay "one of the best translations of a book to film ever made."26
• Jan 1966
• Capote Becomes Famous
• In Cold Blood is published. Capote falls in with a glamorous, fast-living crowd after the success of
his book, and his long friendship with Lee subsequently erodes.

38. • Aug 25, 1984
• Truman Capote Dies
• Truman Capote dies at age 59. Though they once were close, Lee says after his
death that she had not heard from her longtime friend in years.
• 1999
• Best of the Century
• Library Journal votes To Kill A Mockingbird the best novel of the twentieth century.
• Aug 2001
• Chicago Reads Mockingbird
• In an effort to get people to read books (and talk to each other), Chicago embarks on
a campaign to get every adult in the city to read To Kill A Mockingbird at the same
time. Participants in this "One Book, One Chicago" project are given pins
emblazoned with mockingbirds to help spot fellow readers around town.

39. • Jul 2006
• O Magazine Essay
• Harper Lee breaks a decades-long publishing drought with a piece in O Magazine entitled "A
Letter to Oprah from Harper Lee." In it, she defends the value of books and of reading in an era of
"laptops, cellphones, iPods and minds like empty rooms."
• May 2007
• Academy Induction
• Harper Lee is inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an honor society of 250
architects, composers, artists, and writers. Nomination to the Academy is deemed the highest
formal recognition of artistic talent and accomplishment in this country.
• Nov 5, 2007
• Presidential Medal of Freedom
• President George W. Bush presents Harper Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White
House press release explains, "At a critical moment in our history, her beautiful book, To Kill A
Mockingbird, helped focus the nation on the turbulent struggle for equality."
• Harper Lee died in her sleep on February 19, 2016, at the age of 89.

40. SCOTT FITZGERALD TIMELINE

41. • September 24, 1896- The birth of Francis Scott Key
Fitzgerald at 481 Laurel Avenue, St. Paul.
April 1898- After the failure of his St. Paul furniture factory, Scott's father looses his
job as a wicker furniture salesman and takes a job as salesman with Procter &
Gamble. He moves, with the family, to Buffalo, New York.
July 24, 1900- The birth of the Sayres sixth child, Zelda, was born at home on South
Street, Montgomery, Alabama. Judge Anthony Sayre was 42, Minnie was 40.

42. • January 1901- The Fitzgerald family moves to Syracuse, New York, where Procter &
Gamble transfers Scott's father.
September 1903- The Fitzgerald family move back to Buffalo, where Procter & Gamble
transfers Scott's father.
1907- The Sayre family move to 6 Pleasant Avenue. (Zelda's home until her marriage.)
March 1908- Edward Fitzgerald loses his job at Procter & Gamble.
July 1908- The Fitzgerald family return to St. Paul (514 Holly Street).
September 1908- Scott enters the St. Paul Academy. His grades were so poor that his
parents decided to send him to a Catholic Prep School in New Jersey. From age 15
onwards Scott was only back in St. Paul for holidays.

43. • 1909- Zelda begins ballet studies, which she will again take later in life.
October 1909- Scott gets his first publication in print, The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage in The St.
Paul Academy Now and Then.
August 1911- Production of Scott's first play, The Girl from Lazy J is staged at the Elizabethan Dramatic
Club in St. Paul.
September 1911- Scott enters Newman School, Hackensack, New Jersey.
August 1912- Production of Scott's play The Captured Shadow at the Elizabethan Dramatic Club, St
Paul.
August 1913- The production of Scott's play Coward at the St. Paul Y.W.C.A. Auditorium.
September 1913- Scott enters Princeton University with Class of 1917 and contributes to The Princeton
Tiger, a
Princeton University humour magazine.
Deptember 1914- The production of Scott's play Assorted Spirits at the St. Paul Y.W.C.A. Auditorium.
September 1914- Zelda enters Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery.
December 1914- The production of Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi!, a musical comedy, with 17 song lyrics by Scott,
presented by the Princeton University theatrical group, the Princeton Triangle Club.

44. • April 1915- Shadow Laurels, is published in The Nassau Literary Magazine.
November 1915- Scott attends his last class and drops out of Princeton for remainder of
junior year.
December 1915- Production of The Evil Eye, a musical comedy with 17 song lyrics by
Scott presented by the Princeton Triangle Club.
September 1916- Scott returns to Princeton.
December 1916- Production of Safety First, a musical comedy with 21 song lyrics by
Scott by the Princeton Triangle Club.
1917- Zelda abandons ballet studies.
Spring 1917- Scotts poor academic record forces his withdrawal from Princeton before
graduation.

45. • October 1917- Scott receives commission as 2nd lieutenant in U.S. infantry.
February 1918- Scott receives leave from the army. He travels to Princeton, where he completes the
first draft of "The Romantic Egotist."
March 1918- Scott reports to Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky.
February 1919- With the war ended, Scott is discharged from the army. Planning to marry Zelda,
he goes to New York and works for the Barron Collier advertising agency.
Spring 1919- Scott visits Montgomery in April, May, and June. Zelda remains reluctant to commit
herself to marriage.
June 1919- Zelda breaks off the engagement.
July/August 1919- Scott quits his advertising job, leaves New York, returns home on July 1 to 599
Summit Avenue St. Paul and rewrites The Romantic Egotist, which he renames This Side of
Paradise.
September 1919- Maxwell Perkins of Scribner's accepts This Side Of Paradise.
March/May 1920- Scott's Myra Meets His Family, The Camel's Back, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, The
Ice Palace, and The Offshore Pirate appear in the magazine The Saturday Evening Post.

46. • March 1920- The publication of This Side Of Paradise. The novel went through 9
printings in 1920 with a total of 41,000 copies.
March 1920- Zelda and Scott become engaged.
April 1920- Zelda (19) and Scott (23) marry at the rectory of St Patrick's Cathedral in
New York.
May 1920- The Fitzgeralds rent a house on Compo Road, Westport, Connecticut, where
Scott begins writing The Beautiful and Damned.
September 1920- The publication of Flappers and Philosophers, Scott's first collection of
short stories.
October 1920- The Fitzgeralds take an apartment in New York City.
January 1921- Zelda becomes pregnant.
May 1921- First trip to Europe.

47. • September 1921-March 1922- The Beautiful and Damned serialized in Metropolitan
Magazine. Zelda is asked to write a review on it for the New York Tribune's book section.
October 1921- The Fitzgeralds move to the Commodore Hotel in St. Paul.
October 1921- The birth of a daughter - Frances Scott Scottie Fitzgerald.
November 1921- The Fitzgeralds rent a house in St. Paul.
March 1922- The publication of Scott's second novel The Beautiful And Damned. It
received good reviews resulting in 3 printings selling some 50,000 copies.
1922- The Beautiful and Damned is made into a movie by Warner Bros.
April 1922- Zelda's tongue in cheek review of The Beautiful And Damned appears in
New York Tribune.
June 1922- Zelda's essay, Eulogy On The Flapper appears in Metropolitan Magazine.

48. • June 1922- The publication of Scott's The Diamond As Big As The Ritz in the Smart Set.
September 1922- The publication of Tales of the Jazz Age, Scott's second collection of short stories.
October 1922- The Fitzgeralds rent a house in Great Neck, Long Island.
April 1923- The publication of Scott's play, The Vegetable.
November 1923- The Vegetable fails at tryout at the Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey
with people walking out after the second act on the first night.
May 1924- Second trip to Europe.
July 1924- Scott begins writing he Great Gatsby, Zelda began an romantic involvement with
French aviator Edouard Jozan. Scott told Zelda he would leave her if she continued to see Jozan
and the relationship came to an end.
Summer/Fall 1925- Scott completes and revises first draft of The Great Gatsby.
May 1925- Scott meets Ernest Hemingway.
Summer 1925- Scott begins planning novel that will become Tender Is the Night.

49. • February 1926- A play version of The Great Gatsby opens at the Ambassador Theatre on
Broadway.
March 1927- The Fitzgeralds rent Ellerslie in Wilmington, Delaware.
Summer 1927- Zelda resumes ballet studies, hoping to become a professional.
February 1930- The Fitzgeralds travel to North Africa.
April 1930- Zelda's story The Girl With Talent appears in College Humor.
April 1930- Zelda has her first breakdown in Paris.
May 1930- Zelda enters Valmont Clinic in Glion, Switzerland.
June 1930- Zelda enters Les Rives de Prangins clinic near Nyon on Lake Geneva,
Switzerland where she is diagnosed as schizophrenic. She gives up ballet.
Summer/Fall 1930- Scott commutes between Paris and Switzerland.

50. • January 1931- The death of Scott's father. Scott returns alone to America to attend the
burial. He travels to Montgomery to report to the Sayres about Zelda.
February 1931- Scott returns to Europe. He divides his time between Paris and
Switzerland.
July 1931- Zelda is released from Prangins.
September 1931- The Fitzgeralds return on Aquitania to America permanently.
November-December 1931- Scott goes to Hollywood alone to work on Red-Headed
Woman for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During the eight weeks he was gone Zelda wrote him
some 30 letters telling him again and again of her dependence upon him.
November 1931- Zelda's father, Judge Sayre dies.
February 1932- Back in Montgomery, Zelda has a second breakdown. She enters Phipps
Psychiatric Clinic of Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. She starts work
on writing a novel.

51. • March 1932- Scott moves to Hotel Rennert in Baltimore.
March 1932- Zelda completes first draft of her novel, Save Me the Waltz just six
weeks.
May 1932- Scott rents La Paix outside Baltimore, where he writes most of Tender Is
the Night.
June 1932- Zelda is discharged from the Phipps Clinic. She joins the family at La
Paix.

52. • February 1934- Zelda has third breakdown 2 years to the day after her second one.
She enters Sheppard-Pratt Hospital in Towson, Maryland.
April 1936- Zelda enters the Highland Hospital for Nervous Disorders in Ashville.
She works on writing and painting.
September 1936- Scott's mother, Mollie, dies in Washington. Scottie enters Ethel
Walker Boarding School in Connecticut.
July 1937- Scott travels to Hollywood for third and last time: He signs a six-month
contract with MGM for $1,000 a week. He works on polishing up a dialogue of a

53. • screenplay by Frank Wead.
July 1937- Scott meets Sheila Graham at a party in Hollywood.
September 1937- Scott works on Three Comrades script for MGM, his only screen credit.
December 1937- Scott's MGM contract renewed for one year at $1,250 a week.
September 1938-Scottie enters Vassar College.
December 1938- Scott's MGM contract is not renewed.
January 1939-Scott works briefly on Gone With the Wind.
February 1939- Scott travels to Dartmouth College to work on Winter Carnival. He is
fired for drinking.
October 1939-Scott begins work on The Last Tycoon.

54. • November 1940- Scott suffers his first heart attack in Schwab's Drug Store on
Sunset Boulevard.
December 21, 1940- Scott dies of a heart attack at Sheilah Graham's apartment in
Hollywood.
December 27, 1940-Scott is buried in Rockville Union Cemetery, Rockville,
Maryland.
February 1943- Scottie marries Lieutenant Samuel Jackson Lanahan in New York.
March 10, 1948- Zelda dies in a fire at Highland Hospital.
March 1948- Zelda is buried with Scott in Rockville Union Cemetery, Rockville,
Maryland.
November 1975- Scott and Zelda reburied in Scott's family plot at St. Mary's
Catholic Church Cemetery, Rockville, Maryland.