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1911 Harald Dahl (Roald's father) marries Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg and they move to Llandaff, South Wales. 1916 Roald Dahl born September 13, 1916 in Llandaff. 1920 Sister Astri dies of appendicitis at the age of seven. A few months later Dahl's father, Harald Dahl, dies. 1923 Enters Llandaff Cathedral School. 1925 Enters St. Peter's School in Weston-Super-Mare. 1929 Enters Repton Public School in Derby. 1934 Graduates from Repton. Accepts position with Shell Oil Company in London. 1938 Begins working in Shell's branch office in East Africa. 1939 Joins Royal Air Force. Learns to fly fighter plane in Nairobi, Kenya. 1940 Suffers serious injuries as result of plane crash in Libya. Spends several months in military hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. 1941 Rejoins his squadron, then stationed in Greece. 1942 Begins working at British Embassy in Washington. 1944 Dahl secures literary agent, Ann Watkins, and short stories begin to be published in American magazines. 1945 Moves back to Amersham, England to be near mother Sofie. 1948 Begins dividing his time between England and New York City. 1951 Meets future wife, actress Patricia Neal. 1953 Marries Patricia Neal on July 2. 1954 Purchases Little Whitefield farmhouse (later renamed Gipsy House ) in Great Missenden, England. 1955 Daughter Olivia Twenty born April 20. 1957 Daughter Chantal Sophia (renamed Tessa to avoid the rhyme) born April 11. 1960 Son, Theo Matthew Roald, born July 30. Later baby's carriage is hit by taxicab in New York City, causing massive head injuries. 1962 Daughter Olivia dies of measles encephalities on November 17. 1964 Daughter Ophelia Magdalena born May 12. 1965 Patricia Neal suffers three massive strokes on February 17 and returns home three months later. Daughter Lucy Neal born August 4. 1967 Dahl's mother Sofie dies on November 17. 1979 Separates from Patricia Neal. 1983 Divorces Patricia Neal on November 17 and marries Felicity Crosland. 1990 Roald Dahl dies November 23 in Oxford, England. EDITOR'S BIOGRAPHY; Formerly editor of THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, Jeremy Treglown is Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick. He has written critical biographies of Roald Dahl, VS Pritchett and Henry Green. Other books include GRUB STREET AND THE IVORY TOWER: LITERARY HISTORY AND LITERARY SCHOLARSHIP FROM FIELDING TO THE INTERNET.
