What is significant about the day of William Shakespeare's birth and the day of his death?

barker111

They are the same. Jul 14 05, 4:38 PM

barker111

April 23 Jul 14 05, 4:40 PM

bloomsby

The fact that 23 April is the day of the patron saint of England, St. George, suggests to me that some skepticism about the accuracy is in order. Jul 14 05, 5:01 PM

lanfranco

As bloomsby points out, Shakespeare's birthdate is not known and the traditional date is partly based on the assumption that his baptismal date, April 26th of 1564, must have taken place three days after his birth. However, one of the artists on whom I wrote my doctoral dissertation -- a man also born in the 16th century -- was baptized on the day of his birth. There were no firm rules for this sort of thing, and Shakespeare could even have been baptized a month after he was born. http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLTnoframes/life/childhood.html Jul 14 05, 5:18 PM

barker111

Regardless, April 23 is the traditionally observed date for Shakespeare's birth: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature/bedlit/authors_depth/shakespeare.htm Jul 14 05, 8:07 PM

Arpeggionist

Shouldn't people find out what the man's real name was first? Jul 15 05, 1:55 AM

griffinj

Is there a question as to what his first name was, Arpeggionist? Jul 15 05, 4:00 AM

Arpeggionist

Oh yes, there is quite a debate about the actual identity of the man known to history as William Shakespeare. The name is thought by many to be a pseudonym for about a half dozen people, any one of whom might deserve the credit for writing them. As the manuscripts have been lost, thee's no way of really knowing by what name the author was known to his friends, family and patrons. Jul 15 05, 4:36 AM

tjoebigham

Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote", died the same day and year as Shakespeare. Jul 15 05, 9:05 AM

Arpeggionist

And have you ever seen the two of them in the same place at the same time? Jul 16 05, 11:59 AM

gmackematix

You may be tilting at windmills there, Arpy! Jul 19 05, 11:44 AM

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February 1564 was significant for the death of one luminary and the birth of another. Who were they? What year saw the birth of Issac Newton and the death of Galileo? Where in the world is the death rate higher than the birth rate? Why is the wreath, a symbol of death, put on doors at Christmas, which celebrates a birth?

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