Timeline

`This article lists all of the events that happened in the Lemony Snicket timeline.

Please Note:

• This timeline solely covers the canon of the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions. As such, events or timelines canon only to the 2004 film or Netflix adaptation are not to be taken as book canon.
• As dates are never given and very rarely are years relative to each other, some events are organized by order of estimation.

As with all good stories, I would have liked to know what happened next. The following article or section concerns information that contains major spoilers or that has only recently been released, and thus may be considered a SPOILER if you have not read the source material. Proceed with caution into this carnival, lest you be thrown into the lion pits of your own great unknowns.

Legendary / Far Past / Unknown Placements

• Lady Mallahan slays the Bombinating Beast.^[1]
• The legend of Rona occurs or is invented.^[2]
• Fifteenth Century - Female Finnish Pirates operate and create the Devil's Tongue Knot.^[3]
• The Yamgraz are driven out of the area that would become Stain'd-by-the-Sea.^[4]
• ~306 Years before The Vile Village - The Village of Fowl Devotees is founded.^[5]
• 1872 - A library in a seaside town is founded.
• ~1986 - The seaside library is donated a desk from a bank.^[6]

Pre-Schism

• ~47 Years before The Austere Academy - Mrs. Bass and Mr. Remora begin teaching at Prufrock Preparatory School.^[7]
• Ishmael is a Chemistry teacher. He is approached by a suspicious student who is afraid of being poisoned. His search for an antidote leads to him joining V.F.D.^[8]
• ~40 Years before The Reptile Room - Monty Montgomery begins studying herpetology.^[9]
• The Man with a Beard but No Hair and Woman with Hair but No Beard are members of V.F.D. The Woman has an Infant Servant.^[10]
• Other known volunteers:
  • Lois Dressing
  • Ghede
  • Gifford
  • S. Theodora Markson
  • Dashiell Qwerty
  • Snicket Clan, likely including E. Snicket and Jacob Snicket
• The Sugar Bowl secret is widely known throughout the organization.^[11]
• Ingrid Knight founds Ink Inc. with Colonel Colophon, making Stain'd-by-the-Sea a successful town.
• Armstrong Feint founded the Inhumane Society, he recruits many people in his organization including Nurse Dander, Dr. Flammarion and Stew Mitchum.
• An explosion occurs unveiling a statue for Colophon, injuring him and requiring him to stay at the Colophon Clinic, Armstrong Feint is possibly a witness. Ingrid replaces him with her son, Ignatius Knight. The explosion is blamed on the Inhumane Society.^[12]
• ~5 years before the Schism - Dewey Denouement, Ernest Denouement and Frank Denouement are born.^[13]
• ~4 years before the Schism, January 12^[14] - Jacques Snicket and Kit Snicket are born^[13] to E. Snicket and Jacob Snicket.^[11]
• ~15-16 years before All the Wrong Questions - Cleo Knight is born to Ignatius Knight and Doretta Knight and brought home from the hospital by Zada and Zora. Jake Hix is also born somewhere around this time.^[12]

Initial Schism

• Lemony Snicket is unexpectedly born at Valorous Farms Dairy, causing his family to become associates with the cheesemakers.^[11]
• Known births around the same year as Lemony:
  • Ellington Feint (up to a year older)
  • Marguerite Gracq
  • Kellar Haines
  • Jackie
  • Moxie Mallahan
  • Stew Mitchum
  • Kevin Old
  • Florence Smith
• Jacques, Kit and Lemony Snicket are kidnapped and recruited into V.F.D. while their father is chopping wood and their mother is investigating a mill.
• Duchess R is also recruited.^[11]
• The Denouement triplets are recruited just before their fifth birthday; their parents are killed in a house fire.
• The initial schism occurs; afterwards, ankle tattoos become less mandatory.^[13]

Post-Schism

• less than a year after Lemony Snicket's birth - Hector is born.^[1]
• some time before All the Wrong Questions - Lemony Snicket spends a summer with his family at a lake house. He sneaks out in the mornings to feed the geese, starting an interest in sneaking out of places. He also reads The Long Secret for the first time.^[6]
• some time before All the Wrong Questions - Bertrand Baudelaire becomes the apprentice to S. Theodora Markson and graduates. She thinks highly of him.^[15] Despite this, she is ranked worst out of fifty-two chaperones.^[1]
• Count Olaf attends Wade Academy.^[15]
• less than eighteen years before Fiona's birth - Fernald is born to Mrs. Widdershins^[16]

Lemony Snicket's Training

• Nursery School: Lemony is taught about bags with secret compartments.
• Kindergarten: Lemony learns the word "sabotage"^[15]
• Eight Years Old: Several volunteer children are taken into the woods to spend several nights. Beatrice Baudelaire captures her first bat, and Jacques learns how quickly wasps can get angry. Lemony learns that a frightened animal, while cornered, will lash out.^[12]
• Eleven Years Old: Lemony formally meets Beatrice and invites her for a Root Beer float.^[17]
• ~11-12 years - Lemony attempts to lead the children of V.F.D. in a semi-coup. He is almost thrown out of the organization.^[12] His Known Associates: Beatrice Baudelaire, Haruki, Hector,^[1] Josephine,^[15] Monty Montgomery, Kit Snicket^[1] and Captain Widdershins^[12] Possible associates: Count Olaf, Duchess R^[18]
• Unknown point in childhood - Lemony becomes acquainted with a Shoemaker, who likes to take him out to dinner.
• Fountain of Victorious Finance begins construction.
• Lemony and Kit plan to steal something important from the Museum of Items, which would require both of them to gain apprenticeships in The City, as they plan to sneak through the tunnels under the Fountain of Victorious Finance.^[1]
• Learning of this plan, V.F.D. has Lemony's chosen chaperone, Markson, relocate to Stain'd-by-the-Sea, where they had a requested case. Gifford and Ghede attempt to stop this by drugging and kidnapping Lemony.

Stain'd-by-the-Sea

• During the childhood of Moxie Mallahan^[4] - Ink Inc. drains the sea from Stain'd-by-the-Sea, causing an economic collapse. This also causes the flooding of Killdeer Fields.
• The Ethan Frome Festival begins to decline before eventually being cancelled. During one race, Chase B. Willow is arrested by the Officers Durham for stealing the portrait of Gary Dorian.^[4]
• Businesses close: The Aquarium, Fjords, Hairdryer Emporium, The Stain'd Lighthouse, Roe House, Stain'd Playhouse and Wade Academy.
• Due to lack of funds, the library can only afford a sub-librarian, and Dashiell Qwerty is positioned there.^[1]
• Jake Hix is abandoned by his parents and taken in by his aunt, Hungry Hix, as an apprentice chef.
• The Lost Arms catches fire. Alice Lost is the only casualty, causing her husband, Prosper Lost, to send their daughter, Ornette Lost, to live with her firefighter uncles, the Talkie Brothers.^[18]
• Jake and Cleo start a relationship. As her parents are upset by this, they keep it secret.
• Pip Bellerophon and Squeak Bellerophon claim their father is sick and take up the taxi business.^[1]
• Cleo obtains a Dilemma as a gift.
• Lizzie Haines begins an apprenticeship under Dame Sally Murphy.
• Armstrong Feint, a member of the Inhumane Society, begins experimenting in an attempt to recreate the Bombinating Beast in order to destroy Stain'd-by-the-Sea. However, he is unable to control them without a statue.^[18]
• six months prior to Who Could That Be at This Hour? - Armstrong attempts to purchase the Bombinating Beast Statue from the Mallahan Family, unfortunately reaching them only just before the telegrams close. Thinking they are uninterested, he resolves to steal it.
• Armstrong abandons his daughter, Ellington Feint, calling her under the persona of Hangfire and telling her that she will never see her father again. She runs away from home in an attempt to search for him and spends six months traveling alone.^[1]
• Armstrong sends out pamphlets telling the citizens of Stain'd-by-the-Sea that they must wear masks when the bell rings.^[1]
• While investigating, Mrs. Mallahan is convinced to flee the town,^[18] abandoning her husband and daughter. Her husband falls into a depression.^[1]
• Armstrong kidnaps Lizzie, using her to force her family and Dame Sally Murphy to work for him.^[15][18]
• Armstrong calls Ellington, telling her that Hangfire will release him in exchange for the Bombinating Beast statue. She positions herself at Handkerchief Heights in the hopes of stealing it.

All the Wrong Questions

• The events of Who Could That Be at This Hour?
• With assistance from Dr. Flammarion, Armstrong Feint kills Colonel Colophon, and Colophon Clinic is established as Inhumane Society headquarters.
• The events of When Did You See Her Last?
• The events of File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents
• The Inhumane Society moves their headquarters to Wade Academy.
• The events of Shouldn't You Be in School?
• The events of Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

Inbetween All the Wrong Questions and Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography

• Several months after Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? - The events of The Hero of the Story
• Lemony somehow rejoins V.F.D.^[11]
• (likely) some time before the writing of "My Silence Knot"^[19] - Count Olaf's parents are murdered at La Forza del Destino by Beatrice and Bertrand, with Kit providing poison darts.^[13]
• ~twenty years before The Ersatz Elevator - Lemony, Beatrice, R^[17] and Jerome Squalor hike up the Mortmain Mountains. Beatrice ends up carried away by an eagle.^[20]
• After graduation, Lemony becomes an assistant obituary spellchecker for The Daily Punctilio. Beatrice becomes a professional actress.
• Beatrice seems to be spying on her troupe, and sends Lemony messages. She fails to deliver "My Silence Knot" to him.^[17]
• over a year^[11] before Lemony fakes his death - Duchess R's Mother is killed, making her the duchess of Winnipeg. As such, jobs at the Newspaper are shuffled, and Lemony is made a dramatic critic.^[17]
• about a year before Violet Baudelaire's birth - Fiona is born. Around this time, her mother marries Captain Widdershins, the two of them becoming the original submarine crew of two. The Queequeg is built, with help from Kit.^[16]

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography

• Lemony proposes to Beatrice. They arrange for their wedding at the Vineyard of Fragrant Grapes.
• Lemony sends a letter to Charley Patton about the inaccuracies of "The Little Snicket Lad."
• Beatrice is fired from a V.F.D. propaganda play, The World is Quiet Here, and it is rewritten by Olaf into One Last Warning to Those Who Try to Stand in My Way and recast with Esmé and his troupe. Eleanora enjoys the play, while Lemony is disgusted.
• Lemony writes a scathing review of One Last Warning to Those Who Try to Stand in My Way, mentioning his engagement to Beatrice. He is fired for this, and his column replaced with Geraldine Julienne's Secret Organizations You Should Know About. Lemony attempts to send a warning about the real reason he was fired, causing the Daily Punctilio to lock their printing presses.
• The Vineyard of Fragrant Grapes warns Lemony away from his wedding, as Olaf is planning to burn him.
• Lemony Snicket is framed for arsons that Count Olaf has committed.^[10]
• Lemony, under instructions from Jacques, disguises himself, fakes his death, and flees the country. He is smuggled away on the S. S. Prospero, a V.F.D. ship.^[11]
• Beatrice breaks her engagement with Lemony and sends him a two-hundred page breakup letter.^[17]
• The Building Committee discusses having to escape headquarters, and R fears that students will forget important codes or even the Sugar Bowl secret. The meeting is intercepted by Count Olaf and Esmé.
  • At this time, Daniel Handler has begun representing Lemony.

Inbetween Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography and A Series of Unfortunate Events

• Gregor Anwhistle begins experimenting with the Medusoid Mycelium at Anwhistle Aquatics. Though they have factories producing the antidote- common horseradish- Kit warns him against this.^[16]
• Jacques begs Jerome Squalor to buy 667 Dark Avenue and never sell it in order to protect the V.F.D. safehouse.^[11]
• ~16 years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Bertrand and Beatrice are stranded on The Island and take command, making a large library out of the deserted area. Beatrice either is or becomes pregnant with her first child at this time.
• Bertrand and Beatrice also train Inky.
• Ishmael washes up and is concerned about their ideas to connect the island to Anwhistle Aquatics, and thus has them banished.^[8]
• fifteen^[10] years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Violet Baudelaire is born. As she only barely remembers V.F.D. phrases, her parents likely escaped the organization around this time.
• ~14 years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Duncan Quagmire, Isadora Quagmire and Quigley Quagmire are born to Mr. Quagmire and Mrs. Quagmire^[7]
• thirteen^[5] years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Klaus Baudelaire is born. Violet is inspired to become an inventor upon visiting the Verne Invention Museum.
• Anwhistle Aquatics is burnt down due to the actions of Captain Widdershins and Fernald. Fernald flees and is thus framed for the fire by Jacques.
• Mrs. Widdershins is killed. Jacques Snicket takes her place in the Queequeg crew.^[16]
• Josephine marries Ike Anwhistle. He eventually is killed by Lachrymose Leeches.^[21]
• ~8 years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Violet builds her own telegraph machine.^[5]
• ~6-8 years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - A schism on the Island causes Thursday to leave. Miranda Caliban stays behind, pregnant with their child, and Ishmael convinces her to tell the child that her father died to avoid another schism. The baby is born and named Friday Caliban.^[8]
• ~5 years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Violet invents a new kind of pencil sharpener.^[9] Her and Klaus are taken by their parents to see their Uncle Elwyn enter a contest at a county fair.^[7]
• ~1-2 years before A Series of Unfortunate Events - Sunny Baudelaire is born.
• The Baudelaires splash in the Fountain of Victorious Finance.^[8]
• Monty Montgomery "discovers" the Incredibly Deadly Viper.^[9]

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Events in this section occur during the Year of the Rat.^[22]

While the Netflix series cannot be considered canon, it places the events between The Bad Beginning and The End as occurring between August 11th (with Josephine dying on August 20th, Monty a few days earlier, and a week before that the Baudelaire parents) and October 18th (Caligari Carnival burns on October 12th, judging by the reprise of That's Not How The Story Goes which shows an image of Kit watching the burning carnival pinned under OCTOBER 12TH. The Baudelaire's spend two days with the Widdershins, then two days at the Hotel, then a few days on the island before Kit washes up and dies, putting her death and Beatrice II's birth around October 18th). Beatrice II is one when they depart, implying it is October 18th of the following year in the final chapter of The End,

• The Baudelaire Fire occurs. Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire are pronounced dead.^[3]
• The fire is sketched by Brett Helquist. He attempts to meet Snicket at Valorous Farms Dairy.^[11] 
• The events of The Bad Beginning.
• Zombies in the Snow is made, warning Monty that his new assistant is not one of them and that a survivor of the fire is hidden on set. However, Monty does not know the Sebald Code and thus never receives the message. Lena Pukalie reviews the film and suggests that it is a secret message.
• Following Gustav Sebald's murder, Snicket sends the Zombies in the Snow scripts to Valorous Farms Dairy, possibly when he intends to meet Brett Helquist.^[11]
• The events of The Reptile Room.
• The Quagmire Fire occurs, and Quigley Quagmire is presumed deceased along with his parents. Duncan and Isadora are sent to Prufrock Prep by their will's executor, Esmé.
• Quigley Quagmire, alive, finds himself in Monty Montgomery's House. He is intercepted by Jacques Snicket.^[10]
• The events of The Wide Window.
• The events of The Miserable Mill.
• Jacques abandons Quigley in Montgomery's house to investigate Georgina Orwell's murder. Afterwards, he ends up hiding in a village.
• Orwell's murder is covered up.^[11]
• Esmé arranges for herself to "bump into" Jerome Squalor, and they are married after only one evening. Jacques attempts to warn him against this, but his letter is never received.
• Sometime after The Miserable Mill and before the Library of Records is burnt, Kit retrieves newspaper articles from the destroyed Daily Punctilio archives concerning Lemony's false death and sends them to Valorous Farms Dairy. The Dairy later burns to the ground.^[11]
• The events of The Austere Academy.
• Mr. Remora retires after choking on a banana. Mrs. Bass begins planning on robbing a bank.
• The Daily Punctilio publishes a list of "dangerous books," known V.F.D. propaganda.
• Sometime before Kit begins teaching at Prufrock, Lemony begins publishing A Series of Unfortunate Events. Drafts are sent to the Library of Records, and at least The Reptile Room is published before the In Auction.
• Sometime following the Baudelaires' expulsion, Kit begins teaching at Prufrock Prep. She dispenses V.F.D. propaganda books, including an incomplete A Series of Unfortunate Events. She is later fired and kidnaps two orphans as she flees.
• Duchess R may have been murdered or kidnapped by Count Olaf, and a mysterious letter claiming to be from her is sent to Lemony.^[11] This is while Prufrock is still open, as Lemony's response mentions its advanced computer.
• Quigley has to leave Monty's house after it is set on fire.^[10]
• An associate of Count Olaf's attempts to locate the reptiles of Monty Montgomery. At least the Mamba du Mal is located before the In Auction.^[11]
• The events of The Ersatz Elevator.
• The events of The Vile Village.
• Telephone poles are chopped down due to suggestions by Al Funcoot.
• Arthur Poe attempts to discuss the coverage of the Baudelaire stories with his sister, but they are distracted by a volunteer waiter.^[11]
• The events of The Hostile Hospital.
• Geraldine Julienne, under instruction from Esmé, locks a suspicious Eleanora in the basement of the newspaper building.
• Arthur Poe halts all telegrams to the bank.^[11]
• Kit finds Hal in the ruins of the Library of Records and recruits him into V.F.D.^[13]
• The events of The Carnivorous Carnival.
• The events of The Slippery Slope.
• The events of The Grim Grotto.
• The events of The Penultimate Peril.
• The events of The End.
  • Birth of Beatrice Baudelaire II, daughter of Kit Snicket and adoptive daughter of the Baudelaire children, on Decision Day.
  • Death of Kit Snicket and Count Olaf on Decision Day.

After A Series of Unfortunate Events

• Violet, Klaus and Sunny raise Beatrice Baudelaire II on the island for a year.
• On Decision Day, the three of them leave the island.^[8]
• The Baudelaires shipwreck, but Violet's emergency repairs allow them to survive.^[17]
• Violet visits Briny Beach for a third time.^[23]
• Sunny makes appearances on the radio discussing recipes.^[17]
• unknown years after The Miserable Mill - Sally Sebald sends information on her brother's filmmaking to Lemony.^[11]
• sometime after the publication of All the Wrong Questions - Lemony Snicket lives in a seaside town atop a hill. His friend, the Shoemaker, dies.
• Lemony erroneously believes himself poisoned and goes on a day trip of philosophy.^[6]
• ~10 years after The End - Beatrice II becomes separated from her guardians and inducted into the dying V.F.D. Obsessed with finding them again, she writes to her uncle, Lemony Snicket, in attempts to get help, eventually asking to meet him for root beer floats.
• Lemony sends his final letter to the Kind Editor.^[17]

Sources