By Scott Newstok
This past Sunday, April 23, was UNESCO’s International Day of the Book. First observed in 1995, this celebration of reading is timed to coincide with the 1616 death dates of William Shakespeare and Peruvian chronicler Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as the burial of Don Quixote author Miguel de Cervantes. Yet while all three authors technically share that same April 23 date, Shakespeare didn’t die on the same day. How can that be so? Spain had shifted to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, while England continued following the Julian model until 1752. Because of these conflicting calendars, Shakespeare shuffled off this mortal coil ten days after Vega and Cervantes.
April 23 might well have been Shakespeare’s birthday, too. His baptism was recorded as having taken place on today’s date, April 26, 1564. In Tudor England, baptism usually occurred a few days after birth, so tradition (and so…
