John Evelyn I, Oliver Cromwell's rise and eventual natural death, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Evelyn's posthumously "rival" diarist, Samuel Pepys, wrote a different kind of diary, covering a much shorter period, 1660–1669, but in much greater depth, within the same era. Over the years, Evelyn's Diary has been overshadowed by Pepys's chronicles of 17th-century life. Born into a family whose wealth was largely founded on gunpowder production, John Evelyn was born in Wotton, Surrey and grew up in Lewes, Sussex. While living in Lewes, in Southover Grange, he was educated at Lewes
May Day (play) May Day (play) May Day is an early 17th-century stage play, a comedy written by George Chapman that was first published in 1611. "May Day" enters the historical record when it was printed in a quarto edition by the stationer John Browne. This was the sole edition of the play prior to the 19th century. The title page of the 1611 quarto identifies Chapman as the author, and states that the play was acted at the Blackfriars Theatre, meaning it was performed by the Children of the Blackfriars, the troupe of boy actors that staged most of Chapman's early comedies.