Today is the feast day of St George in the Tridentine Calendar and he is celebrated on this day as the patron saint of, inter alia, England. Why a Palestinian-born, probably ethnically Greek, Roman soldier is patron saint of England is shrouded in mystery, although he has been celebrated since the 13th century.
Today is also celebrated as William Shakespeare’s birthday, with this being allegedly his 450th. But there is no evidence that he was born on 23 April 1564. We do know he was baptised on 26 April 1564, for such is recorded in the parish records of Stratford upon Avon. In Tudor times (and earlier) the date of birth was not generally recorded — it was baptism that counted — so birth records are rare.
Yes, Shakespeare could have been baptised 3 days after his birth. Or three minutes. Or 3 months. We don’t know. Assigning 23 April as his actual birthday is merely a modern convention.
What we do know is that Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616. So in two years time we shall be celebrating the 400th anniversary of his death.
Pace Wikipedia, 23 April as Shakespeare’s birthday “which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholar’s mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, since Shakespeare died 23 April 1616”.
So, pedant that I am, I shall drink the bard’s health this Saturday (26th) and on St George’s Day in two years time.