Anyone who has ever taken a high school English Class should recognize the figure above. William Shakespeare was born on this day (assumed from his date of baptism) in 1564. In his 52 years of life, he wrote numerous plays that will continue to be read in English classes, performed on stage all over the world, and made into films. I am not even going to list any of the titles he wrote because we all know them. We studied them. We tired of them. But his influence in literature is undeniable. And we might not know who Kenneth Branagh is without him. Oh, fun fact: Shakespeare was married to a woman named Anne Hathaway.