The Shakespeare authorship question is the argument, first raised in the
19th century, that someone other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-
upon-Avon wrote the works attributed to him. All but a few Shakespeare
scholars and literary historians consider it a fringe belief. Anti-
Stratfordians believe that Shakespeare was a front to shield the
identity of the real author or authors, who for some reason did not want
or could not accept public credit. The controversy has spawned a vast
body of literature, and more than 80 authorship candidates have been
proposed, the most popular being Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere,
Christopher Marlowe, and William Stanley. To the claim that Shakespeare
lacked sufficient education, aristocratic sensibility, or familiarity
with the royal court for a writer of such eminence and genius, scholars
reply that there is much documentary evidence supporting his
authorship—title pages, testimony by contemporary poets and
historians, official records—and none supporting any other candidate.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1014:
Irish forces led by Brian Boru clashed with the Vikings in the
Battle of Clontarf.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Clontarf>
1516:
The most well-known version of the Reinheitsgebot, the German
Beer Purity Law, was adopted across the entirety of Bavaria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot>
1942:
Second World War: In retaliation for the Royal Air Force
bombing of Lübeck several weeks prior, the Luftwaffe began a series of
bombing raids in England, starting with Exeter.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baedeker_Blitz>
1954:
Batting against Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals, Hank
Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his record-setting 755
home runs in Major League Baseball.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron>
2009:
Gamma-ray burst GRB 090423 was detected, coming from the most
distant known astronomical object of any kind at the time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_090423>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
shy bairns get nowt:
(Geordie) If you're too shy, or don't ask, you will not get what you
want.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shy_bairns_get_nowt>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If by your art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in
this roar, allay them. The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking
pitch, But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek, Dashes the fire
out. O, I have suffered With those that I saw suffer! A brave vessel,
Who had, no doubt, some noble creatures in her, Dash'd all to pieces! O,
the cry did knock Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perish'd! Had
I been any god of power, I would Have sunk the sea within the earth, or
e'er It should the good ship so have swallow'd, and The fraughting souls
within her.
--The Tempest
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Tempest>