William Shakespeare

1564 – 1616 · died at about 52^[1][2]

Literature

Fun Facts About William Shakespeare

• William Shakespeare's will scarcely mentions his wife, Anne, but it does leave her "my second best bed," a bequest that has led to much speculation.^[1]
• The epitaph on Shakespeare's grave includes a curse against moving his bones, and a 2008 restoration of the church carefully avoided disturbing them.^[1]
• On 29 June 1613 a cannon set fire to the Globe Theatre's thatched roof and burned it to the ground, a disaster that dates Shakespeare's Henry VIII with rare precision.^[1]
• Shakespeare married at 18. His bride, Anne Hathaway, was 26 and pregnant, and their daughter Susanna was born six months later.^[1]
• Shakespeare left few historical traces in his "lost years" from 1585 to 1592. One Stratford legend says he fled to London to escape prosecution for deer poaching.^[1]
• Shakespeare's plays have been translated into over 80 languages, including the constructed languages Esperanto and Klingon.^[1]
• Shakespeare and Galileo were born in the same year, 1564.^[1][2][3][4]
• William Shakespeare was alive at the same time as Suleiman the Magnificent — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1564–1566).^[1][2][5][6]

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.^[1]

Contemporaries

Tokugawa Ieyasu

52 yr overlap

Miguel de Cervantes

52 yr overlap

Galileo Galilei

52 yr overlap

Francis Bacon

52 yr overlap

Johannes Kepler

45 yr overlap

Akbar the Great

41 yr overlap

Elizabeth I

39 yr overlap

Caravaggio

39 yr overlap

Peter Paul Rubens

39 yr overlap

Tycho Brahe

37 yr overlap

Sir Francis Drake

32 yr overlap

René Descartes

20 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About William Shakespeare

When was William Shakespeare born?

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, and died on April 23, 1616.

How old was William Shakespeare at death?

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, and died on April 23, 1616, at age 52.

What was William Shakespeare known for?

William Shakespeare was known for: Greatest playwright in the English language. William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Who was alive at the same time as William Shakespeare?

William Shakespeare's closest contemporary was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Their lives overlapped for 52 years.