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5 Facts You Didn’t Know About William Shakespeare!

  1. During his lifetime William Shakespeare is said to have written 37 plays and 150 poems; however, no one can tell the exact number still because a lot of his work has been lost over time.

2. Nobody knows what Shakespeare did from 1585 to 1592. Shakespeare disappeared from the records for 7 years and historians usually refer to this period as “the lost years.”

3. Then in 1592 William Shakespeare magically reappeared in London as an actor and a playwright. However, his rivals criticized him and made fun of his work. Robert Greene, who was another writer, referred to Shakespeare as ‘an upstart crow.’

4. Shakespeare’s parents and children were illiterate. Shakespeare’s father had a lot of different jobs and at one point also got paid to drink beer!

5. Shakespeare did not know how to spell his name right but then again can we blame him?

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Big History History

Congratulations! It’s… Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is a holiday celebrated worldwide to celebrate motherhood. In the modern form, it originated in the United States and is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. Many other countries also mark this day as the celebration of Mother’s Day while some countries mark its observance at other times of the year. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was established by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official holiday in 1914.  In 2021, Mother’s Day landed on May 9th, the second Sunday of the month.

The Great Greek Goddess, Rhea.

However, the origin of Mother’s Day dates back to ancient times when festivals were held to honor mother goddesses. For example, the Greeks held a festival to honor their great goddess Rhea, while the Phrygians held a ceremony for Cybele, The Great Mother of Gods. Some cultures still continue to host such festivals, for example, Durga-pooja in India is still celebrated to honor the great goddess Durja. Thus the history of Mother’s Day stems from these historic practices from thousands of years ago.

The Indian Goddess, Durja, who is still celebrated through Durja-pooja.