Happy Birthday to William Shakespeare, the
greatest writer in the English language, who was born April 23, 1564.
There are
no surviving records documenting the date of Shakespeare’s birth, but church
records indicate he was baptized on Wednesday, April 26th. Baptisms typically
took place within three days of birth, and parents were instructed by the
Prayer Book to ensure that their children were baptized no later than the first
Sunday after birth. So it’s not likely he was born earlier than the previous
Sunday, April 23rd. Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday – April 23, 1616.
