I was tied up yesterday planting potatoes and since nobody else bothered to get off their skinny web veined ass to wish old Bill Shakespeare a happy birthday here goes: happy birthday.

William the playwright no doubt added lots of novelty to theatre but his son William Shakespeare Jr. invented a lovely fishing reel "with a device for winding fishing line evenly back on the spool" and his contribution to international culture has never been properly acknowledged.

It's a shame really. Fishing is an enjoyable hobby for the whole family. It transcends all races and creeds all ages and genders and at the end of a day a shore lunch of fresh fish adds a low fat protein rich alternative to a fat bloated burger that someone like Michael 'Fries-on-the-Side' Moore (who's birthday is also April 23rd) is probably self-righteously slobbering over as we speak.

Aside from inventing reels and rods (including the famous 'Ugly Stik' [sic]) Shakespeare Jr. was also a bit of a poet and the phrase, 'Nice play Shakespeare' is actually attributed to a self-deprecating remark he made when he lost a 10 lake trout while fishing with Hemingway somewhere up in Michigan.

This is William Shakespeare Junior's contribution to net culture.

http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/history/index.shtml
http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/homepage.html
http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/

Also born on April 23rd:

1942 Sandra Dee
1940 Lee Majors
1936 Roy Orbison
1928 Shirley Temple
1858 Max Planck