| Date | Event |
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| 18/9/1709 | Samuel Johnson born at Lichfield |
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| 1719-1725 | Attended Lichfield Grammar School under John Hunter, who "whipt
me very well. Without that, Sir, I should have done nothing."
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| 1725-1726 | At school, formed lifelong friendships with Edmund Hector and John (afterward Rev. Dr.) Taylor.
Attended Stourbridge Grammar School, Worcestershire |
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| 31/10/1728 | Entered Pembroke College, Oxford |
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| 1731 | Autumn —Left Oxford without a degree |
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| December —Father, Michael Johnson, died |
| 1732 | Spring —Appointed usher (undermaster) in Market Bosworth School, Leicestershire, found it "complicated misery" and resigned post in July. |
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| 1735 | Finally published the translation of Father Lobo's Voyage to Abyssinia, he had undertaken but kept the press waiting until persuaded to continue by his friend Hector. Thereupon, "he lay in bed with the book . . . before him, and dictated while Hector wrote." |
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| July 9, Married Mrs. Elizabeth Porter, of Birmingham, at Derby |
| 1736 | Early in the year opened a private school at Edial, Staffordshire, with six to eight pupils, among them David Garrick. |
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| 1737 | In March went up to London with Garrick, taking turns riding on a single horse. Worked at his unfinished tragedy, Irene, in Greenwich, during the summer. Brought his wife to London, late in the year. |
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| 1738 | Worked for Edward Cave on The Gentleman's Magazine, from early in the year and became acquainted with Richard Savage. In May published London, a Poem, in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal |
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| 1740-1743 | Wrote up the Parliamentary Debates for The Gentleman's Magazine |
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| 1744 | February —published An Account of the Life of Mr. Richard Savage |
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| 1745 | April —published Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with proposals for a new edition of Shakespeare |
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| 1747 | September 15 —wrote prologue for Garrick's opening of Drury Lane Theatre. Late in the year published Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language, addressed to the Earl of Chesterfield |
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| 1749 | January — published The Vanity of Human Wishes. The Tenth Satire of Juvenal Imitated by Samuel Johnson, his first signed work.
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| February 6th —Irene: A Tragedy produced by Garrick, and eight succeeding nights, and published soon thereafter. |
| 20/3/1750-14/3/1752 | Wrote and published The Rambler, (208 numbers, of which he wrote all but four and part of a fifth).
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| 28/3/1752 | His wife died |
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| 1753-1754 | Contributed two dozen essays to The Adventurer, |
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| 1755 | April —published A Dictionary of the English Language |
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| 1756 | June — published Proposals for Printing the Dramatick Works of William Shakespeare |
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| 25/4/1758-5/4/1760 | Wrote and published The Idler, (104 numbers, of which he wrote all but twelve) |
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| 1759 | January —His mother died |
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| April —published The Prince of Abissinia (i.e., Rasselas) |
| 1762 | Spring —was granted a royal pension of 300 pounds a year |
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| 16/5/1763 | First met Boswell, who "came from Scotland," in Thomas Davies' back parlor |
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| 1764 | Spring —with Reynolds, Burke, Goldsmith, Beauclerk, Langton, and three others, established the Literary Club |
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| 1764 or 1765 | Became acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thrale |
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| 1765 | October —published The Plays of William Shakespeare |
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| 1770 | January —Published The False Alarm |
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| 1773 | August to November —toured Scotland and the Hebrides with Boswell |
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| 1774 | November —published The Patriot |
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| 1775 | January —published A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland |
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| March —published Taxation no Tyranny |
| March 30 —received from Oxford University the degree, Doctor in Civil Law |
| September to November —visited France with the Thrales |
| 1779-1781. | Published Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets, afterward known as The Lives of the Poets |
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| 13/12/1784 | Died |
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