1040 Mac Bethad mac Findláich becomes King of Scots.

1577 Raphael Holinshed's publishes his Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It becomes Shakespeare’s primary source for Macbeth.

April 26, 1564 William Shakespeare baptised.

1606 Shakespeare writes Macbeth.

April 23, 1616 William Shakespeare dies.

Sept. 8, 1873 Alfred Jarry born in Laval, France.

Dec.  10, 1896 First performance of Ubu Roi at Théâtre de l'Oeuvre in Paris.  When Firmin Gémier, the actor playing Père Ubu, spoke the first line, “Merdre!” (“Shittr”), the audience erupted into a near riot, booing, cheering, and shouting at one another. The pandemonium continued for 15 minutes before Gémier was able to continue.    

Dec. 11, 1896  Original production of Ubu Roi closes after its second performance. 

Nov. 1, 1907 Alfred Jarry dies of of tuberculosis aggravated by addiction to absinthe and alcohol. Supposedly, his final request was for a toothpick.

1928 Reese’s introduces the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. In their famous advertising campaign in the 1970s, an individual eating chocolate would collide with another eating peanut butter. The ads slogan stated “two great tastes that go great together.”

1948  The Collège de 'pataphysique, founded in Paris by a group of writers and artists influence by Jarry’s philosophy of pataphysics which he described as “the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments.”

1957 Akira Kurasowa’s film Throne of Blood, a retelling of Macbeth set in medieval Japan opens.

1966  Jan Miró produces Ubu Roi: A  Suite of 13 Lithographs.

1975  Seminal protopunk band Pere Ubu formed.

2004  DJ Dangermouse releases The Grey Album, a now illegal mashup album that mixes together Jay-Z’s The Black Album and the Beatles’ The White Album.

2007   Centenniel of Alfred Jarry’s death.

Jan. 13, 2007 First performance of The Polish Play, A Conflation of Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, devised and directed by Henry Wishcamper, at the Walker Space, 46 Walker Street in Manhattan.