When was William Shakespeare born?

No record of Shakespeare’s exact birth date survives, but the parish register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon records his baptism on 26 April 1564. Because babies were usually baptised a few days after birth, 23 April is accepted by tradition as his birthday. That date is also St George’s Day, and it happens to be the day he died in 1616, aged 52. In between he wrote around 37 plays and 154 sonnets, and he is credited with introducing or first recording hundreds of English words. His plays have been translated into more than 100 languages.