Here's a puzzle. William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes both died on the 23rd of April in 1616. Now, they were both equally and completely dead on April 23; and yet, they did not die on the same day. How is this possible? Welcome to the disturbing world of historical chronology. read more
All in all, Shakespeare did not die on this day in the true sense of the word. To make matters worse it has recently become known that not even Miguel Cervantes died on this day. In fact, he was buried on this day in 1616, but actually died one day earlier, i.e. on 22 April, in Madrid. read more
Or not exactly. They didn't actually succumb on the same day. Shakespeare and Cervantes probably died or were buried almost a fortnight apart, mostly because Catholic Spain preferred the Gregorian calendar, which ran 11 days behind Protestant England's. read more