. April 23 marks both the birth and death of Shakespeare. He was born April 23, 1564, and died April 23, 1616.
. He married a much older and pregnant woman. Records indicate an 18-year-old Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway on Nov. 28, 1582. Barely seven months later, their daughter, Susanna, was born.
. There are no direct descendants of Shakespeare alive today.
. Some phrases still in use today that are attributed to him include: bated breath, we have seen better days, a blinking idiot, brave new world, brevity is the soul of wit, cruel to be kind, foregone conclusion, neither rhyme nor reason, short shrift, too much of a good thing, a tower of strength and wild-goose chase.
. Shakespeare did not have a middle name.
. There are no known original manuscripts of any of his plays or poems surviving today.
. The longest play is "Hamlet," with 3,901 lines; the shortest play is "The Comedy of Errors," with 1,911 lines.
. In his will, Shakespeare left his wife his "second-best bed" and little else. The bulk of his estate was willed to his eldest daughter, Susanna.
Sources: absoluteshakespeare.com and learningat.ke7.org.uk.
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