William Shakespeare was born in April of 1564 (the exact date is not certain, because all people recorded back then was the date of baptism, but most agree on April 23 as baptism always followed birth by a few days) to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.  He was baptized on April 26 of the same year.    At age twenty he met Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than he.  They married on the 28 of November 1582.  The ceremony was a rushed affair, seeing as Anne was three months pregnant.  The 1580's are sometimes referred to as the "lost years" of Shakespeare because not much is known about the time.  All anyone knows is that on the 26 or May 1583 his daughter Susanna was baptized, and on February 2, 1585, his son Hamnet and daughter Judith were baptized.
    What we know next is that by the time 1592 rolled around, Shakespeare was a London playwright with enough of a reputation to get denounced as an "upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers" by Robert Greene (who was a contemporary of Shakespeare).  In 1596 his son Hamnet died, which some say is the base for The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601).  Shakespeare became an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company The Lord Chamberlain's Men.  The company became so popular after Elizabeth I's death in 1603 and the succession of James I that they were renamed The King's Men.  Shakespeare wrote 37 (that's the number that everyone agrees on; there are many disputes about other plays that no one is really sure of) plays and 154 sonnets in his life time.  He died on the 26 of April 1616.
    There are many disputes about the bard's identity.  Some believe that Shakespeare was really Sir Francis Bacon. Others believe that he was really a group of writers.  There's a group of people who believe Shakespeare was really Edward de Vere.  However, most people are in general agreement that Shakespeare was one person, and the person everyone thinks he is at that.