Happy Birthday to the Bard!
- Apr 23, 2023
- 1 min read
If he were immortal, Shakespeare would have been 459 years old today! So today’s post has nothing to do with film and everything to do with some fun facts about the man and his birthday!
Fun Fact #1: No one knows Shakespeare's actual birthday!
Child mortality was a problem back in the day, so parents would baptize their children as soon as they could in case their baby didn't survive - that way, if the child died, it would at least get to go to Heaven. Most parents would baptize their child within a three of their child's birth. Records show William Shakespeare was christened on April 26, 1564, so it is generally accepted that he was born on April 23!
Fun Fact #2: April 23 was also Shakespeare's death day!
Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday on April 23, 1616. Most people accept that his birthday was the 23rd so they can point out he died on the same day he was born. For those like me where history is hard to remember, this makes it easier to remember dates! He is buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Fun Fact #3: Shakespeare's tomb has a curse!
Before he died, Shakespeare penned a curse to go above his grave threatening anyone who dared to move his bones. It reads:
Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.
His bones haven't been moved since!
Here's to another 459 years, Bard!
I was recently blessed by the gods and had the opportunity to go to London and Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.
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