Even though William Shakespeare is one of the most famous poets and playwrights in history, remarkably little is known about his life. We know that he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England around the 23rd of April 1564 because his baptism was recorded in a parish register there on the 26th of April, and baptisms usually took place within three days of a baby's birth. The same church documents inform us that Shakespeare died on the same date-23rd of April—in 1616. We also know of the writer's marriage to a woman named Anne Hathaway in 1582 because the couple purchased a marriage certificate. But all other details about Shakespeare's upbringing, education and later life are speculation based on information scholars have gleaned from his literature. The reason for this lack of knowledge is that Shakespeare lived during an era when little information was documented in written form beyond Church registers. Apart from the key life events of birth, marriage and death, little information was logged about the lives of individuals. Any records that were kept were long since lost or stolen or destroyed by damp or fire. The Shakespeare poems and plays that we know today survived only because they were published, meaning that multiple copies were printed and distributed. It is believed that many other of his writings were never made public.