“Advance our standards, set upon our foes;

Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George,

Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!'”

William Shakespeare

April 23 is the birthday of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616).

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing."

Shakespeare "was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted." (Wikipedia)

April 22 is the birthday of English painter J.M.W. TURNER (1775-1851).

"If I could find anything blacker than black, I'd use it."

Turner "was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 works on paper. He was championed by the leading English art critic John Ruskin from 1840, and is today regarded as having elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Turner’s art, CLICK HERE.

April 23 is the birthday of the great Russian choreographer MICHEL FOKINE (1880-1942).

Fokine created some of his most groundbreaking choreography for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, works like "Scheherazade," "Petrushka," "The Firebird" and CHOPINIANA.

April 23 is the birthday of fashon model and photographer LEE MILLER (1907-1977).

MIller took some of her greatest photos during World War II.

"After the war, Miller suffered terrible PTSD, which doctors at the time hadn’t yet wrapped their heads around. Penrose and his father watched her alcoholism take hold: 'You put up, you shut up, and you drank whiskey.' What brought her out of the fog was cooking, specifically, “surrealist gourmet cooking”—meaning green chicken, huge Elizabethan feasts of entire roasted pigs, cakes with absurd decorations, things that might make you nervous about having a friend over for dinner." (Alex Beggs, Vanity Fair, 2015)

To see examples of Miller’s photography, CLICK HERE.

April 23 is the birthday of American animator MYRON WALDMAN (1908-2006).

Waldman "started his first career work in 1930 at Fleischer Studio. At Fleischer he worked on Betty Boop, Raggedy Ann, Gulliver's Travels, the animated adaptations of Superman, and Popeye. He was head animator on two Academy Award-nominated shorts, Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky (1939)." (Wikipedia)

In 1938, Waldman animated a poignant cartoon about a group of polar bears encountering some dangerous hunters called THE PLAYFUL POLAR BEARS.

April 23 is the birthday of American actress, singer, dancer and diplomat SHIRLEY TEMPLE (1928-2014).

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."

Temple "was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was named United States Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia, and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States ...

Temple began her film career in 1931 when she was three years old and was well-known for her performance in Bright Eyes, which was released in 1934. She won a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935 for her outstanding contribution as a juvenile performer in motion pictures during 1934 and continued to appear in popular films through the remainder of the 1930s, although her subsequent films became less popular as she grew older.[1] She appeared in her last film, A Kiss for Corliss, in 1949." (Wikipedia)

April 23 is the birthday of African-American computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist ANNIE EASELY (1933-2011).

She was a leading member of the team which developed software for the Centaur rocket stage and was one of the first African-Americans to work as a computer scientist at NASA.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On April 23, 1896, the world's first cinema opened in New York City. Koster and Bial's was located in Herald Square in New York City where Macy's flagship store is now located.