| 1891 | Esther Louise Forbes was born to William Trowbridge and Harriette Merrifield Forbes on June 28 in Westboro, Massachusetts. |
| 1898 | The Forbes family moved to Worcester, Massachusetts. |
| 1909-1912 | Esther Forbes attended Bradford Academy, a junior college, in Bradford, Massachusetts. |
| 1916-1918 | Attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Joined editorial board of the Wisconsin Literary Magazine in 1916. |
| 1919 | Returned to Worcester. In late December began working for the editorial department of Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston. |
| 1924-1926 | Wrote feature articles for the Boston Evening Transcript. |
| 1926 | Married Albert L. Hoskins, Jr., an attorney, on January 14 and left Houghton Mifflin. The couple moves to New York City. O Genteel Lady! was published. |
| 1928 | A Mirror for Witches was published. |
| 1933 | Albert Hoskins and Esther Forbes Hoskins divorced. Forbes returned to Worcester. |
| 1935 | Miss Marvel was published. |
| 1937 | Paradise was published. |
| 1938 | The General's Lady was published. |
| 1942 | Paul Revere and the World He Lived In was published. |
| 1943 | Received honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from Clark University. Awarded Pulitzer Prize in History for Paul Revere and the World He Lived In. Johnny Tremain was published. |
| 1944 | Received Newbery Award for Johnny Tremain. |
| 1946 | America's Paul Revere was published. |
| 1947 | The Boston Book was published. Awarded the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer novel award of $150,000 for forthcoming book, The Running of the Tide. |
| 1948 | The Running of the Tide was published. |
| 1949 | Elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. |
| 1954 | Rainbow on the Road was published. |
| 1960 | Became first woman member elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society. |
| 1967 | Died on August 12, 1967, of rheumatic heart disease. |