On April 23, 2016, events were held worldwide in celebration of the author William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of the death of Mr. William Shakspere (family spelling) of Stratford in 1616. The latter’s birth on the same day (it is assumed) in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 52 years earlier, was observed the same weekend with a parade, a giant birthday cake pulled by a team of horses, and reenactors. Stratford also put on a gala including Dame Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch performing excerpts from different plays. The festivities over the weekend may have been grand but were not out of the ordinary for the town of Stratford, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Of late, they have been very vocal promoting the local purported author, William Shakspere. Oddly, the Stratford Shakspere was never known as a connoisseur of horses or as a horseman.