Fun and Interesting Facts on William Shakespeare for children
Have you done William Shakespeare at school yet? If not, don’t worry you will!
The English writer and poet William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the greatest playwright of all time. While most people are familiar with the name of William Shakespeare, no one knows when he was born. Experts know that he was baptized on April 26, 1564 and believe that he was 3 days old at the time. This is why the April 23 date has been adopted as his officially recognized birthday. This date is also said to be the date of his death because no one knows when he actually died!
Strangely, there were no portraits, pictures or drawings made of Shakespeare while he was still alive. Shakespeare married at 18 and wrote his first known play when he was 25 years old; he also acted in some of the plays.
Shakespeare only finished grammar school and never went to a university; but in the time that he lived, he would still have studied maths, literature, religion, and Latin during his early school years.
Shakespeare was eligible to call himself a gentleman because he requested and paid for a family coat of arms, and the College of Heralds complied with this request. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, having a coat of arms meant a higher rank in society for the family.
The surname, Shakespeare, was spelled over 80 different ways during the 16th century…here is one unusual version, “Shaxberd”.
When Shakespeare left his home in Stratford -upon –Avon for the bright candles of London, there was talk that he had to leave because he was caught poaching (illegal hunting.)
William Shakespeare’s writings have been translated into more languages than those of any other author. There are over 80 different translations of his plays and poems being read by people all over the world.
More than 25, 000 different words are used in the works of Shakespeare, including many that he created. (The word, “assassination”, was invented by William Shakespeare.) Most people use only 2000-2500 words in speaking and writing, but this prolific author was able to use 10 times the normal amount of words.
There is still much debate about what poems and plays were actually written by William Shakespeare, but there are still many experts who believe he wrote everything by himself.
Shakespeare is credited with 39 plays, including Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar.
Cardenio is the name of a play that was written by Shakespeare, and performed while he was alive, but today there is no record of this play now. Many people have tried to find out what the play was about but the mystery of this lost work may never be solved. Scholars can only find small references that mention the Cardenio.
There are no living descendants of Shakespeare today, the last of his grandchildren died in the 1600s.
Here is a really surprising fact, this great writer’s wife and children were all illiterate (couldn’t read!)
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