When was William Shakespeare's real birthday?

Answer 1

We know that Shakespeare was baptised on April 26, 1564 because there is a baptismal record in the church which says so. The custom was to baptise within a few days of the birth, so that if the child died, it would not die unbaptised. Of all the days shortly before the baptism, April 23 happens to be 1) St. George's day and 2) the same day that Shakespeare died, so people like to think of him having been born on that day. It's possible, but not certain.