William Shakespeare was born on April 23; the day is marked as English Language Day
English Language Day 2021: The United Nations observes April 23 as English Language Day every year. The day is also traditionally known to be the birthday of William Shakespeare. According to the history.com, ”it has been traditionally known that the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26…Shakespeare’s date of death is conclusively known…it was April 23, 1616.”
In 2010, the UN Department of Global Communications established language days for each of the world body’s six official languages. The intent of celebrating an official languages day was to highlight ”multilingualism and cultural diversity”. The UN official languages apart from English include Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The UN, in a resolution on 6th December 1999, ”invited the appointment of a senior Secretariat official to serve as coordinator of questions relating to multilingualism.”
Observing English language Day started 1946 onwards and since then a number of activities are organised worldwide on this day. World Book and Copyright Day is also celebrated on this day.
A number of posts on Twitter on English Language Day is quite interesting. Here are some of them:
#OnThisDay we celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday! Why not read the introductory chapter from ‘Shakespeare Before Shakespeare,’ by @CathrynEnis & Glyn Parry, which explores the world of the young William Shakespeare in Stratford &Warwickshire. https://t.co/ScgqLajNpPpic.twitter.com/tHadyCQ3ed
— OUP History (@OUPHistory) April 23, 2021
Today is #EnglishLanguageDay, and here’s a quick video to help you share the same with your friends & family. #DYK you can learn the language from our free resource collection? Click the video to know more and check our American Center Chennai catalogue: https://t.co/tqRxgwQEzTpic.twitter.com/gDTxJsm9os
— US Consulate Chennai (@USAndChennai) April 23, 2021
English is one of the 2 working languages and 6 official languages of the United Nations.
Friday is English Language Day: https://t.co/BQ5xNR3e2Gpic.twitter.com/Nse2pE6oTw
— United Nations (@UN) April 23, 2021
April 23 is also marked as Saint Georges Day in the United Kingdom. Happy St Georges Day!
Happy #StGeorgesDay!
This beautiful windowpane is a depiction of the tale of George and the dragon and is from the Sint-Joriskerk in Antwerp, Belgium.
📸 | Shutterstock pic.twitter.com/dotRyBmadP
— University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) April 23, 2021