# Bakers Dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173 "2010-08-04T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2146
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42905 "2016-04-23T23:36:08Z")
An Alliterative Name For an Animal Rarely Seen in Cartoons 1. Nicky Narwhal 2. Penny Pangolin 3. Sandy Salamander 4. Cassis Cicada 5. Tammany Tiger 6. Freddie the Fungus 7. Spencer the Spitting Cobra 8. Wally Wildebeest 9. Marty Marmot 10. Zelda Zebu 11. Scampy Scorpion ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42906 "2016-04-23T23:45:46Z")
An Alliterative Name For an Animal Rarely Seen in Cartoons 1. Nicky Narwhal 2. Penny Pangolin 3. Sandy Salamander 4. Cassis Cicada 5. Tammany Tiger 6. Freddie the Fungus 7. Spencer the Spitting Cobra 8. Wally Wildebeest 9. Marty Marmot 10. Zelda Zebu 11. Scampy Scorpion 12. Timmy Tapeworm ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42907 "2016-04-24T01:10:58Z")
Alliterative Name For an Animal Rarely Seen in Cartoons 1. Nicky Narwhal 2. Penny Pangolin 3. Sandy Salamander 4. Cassis Cicada 5. Tammany Tiger 6. Freddie the Fungus 7. Spencer the Spitting Cobra 8. Wally Wildebeest 9. Marty Marmot 10. Zelda Zebu 11. Scampy Scorpion 12. Timmy Tapeworm 13. Betty Bedbug On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42908 "2016-04-24T02:58:09Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V And others (as did Olivier, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42909 "2016-04-24T03:09:49Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42910 "2016-04-24T03:19:52Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer (a superb Iago in _ **Othello** _ on Broadway, opposite James Earl Jones) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42911 "2016-04-24T03:41:01Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer (a superb Iago in _ **Othello** _ on Broadway, opposite James Earl Jones) 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42912 "2016-04-24T03:42:23Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer (a superb Iago in Othello on Broadway, opposite James Earl Jones) 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42913 "2016-04-24T03:42:56Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer (a superb Iago in _ **Othello** _ on Broadway, opposite James Earl Jones) 5. Anthony Hopkins, Othello (in blackface and curly wig, doesn’t look much like a respected general to me)[- YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FnjPTBpsEnY) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42914 "2016-04-24T03:52:51Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer (a superb Iago in _ **Othello** _ on Broadway, opposite James Earl Jones) 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello (in blackface and curly wig, doesn’t look much like a respected general to me)[- YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FnjPTBpsEnY) (fixing numbering and adding in simultaneous posts) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42915 "2016-04-24T03:54:05Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer ( Othello 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello 8. Claire Danes, Romeo and Juliet ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42916 "2016-04-24T04:10:20Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer ( Othello 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello 8. Claire Danes, Romeo and Juliet 9. Alan Cumming, MacBeth Today is also his 452nd birthday. He actually wrote a scene in which Cassius remRks on the symmetry of dying on his own birthday: “This day I breathed first. Time is come round, And where I did begin, there shall I end. My life is run his compass.” Julius Cæsar Act 3 Scene 5 ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42917 "2016-04-24T04:22:37Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer ( Othello 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello 8. Claire Danes, Romeo and Juliet 9. Alan Cumming, MacBeth 10. Maggie Smith, Desdemona (opposite Laurence Olivier) Today is probably his 452nd birthday, but we can’t know for sure since what we have is a baptismal record for April 26 and not a birth record. Baptisms tended to be on the 3rd day after the birth, but if he was born just before midnight on April 22nd they might have put it off to the 4th day after. Or he could have been born just after midnight on April 24 and they could have baptized him 2 days after. Pictures of the original records here: > **[The Birth and Burial Records of William Shakespeare](https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/birth-and-burial-records-william-shakespeare/)** > > Robyn Greenwood takes a look into the baptismal and burial records of William Shakespeare. These treasured items are kept in the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust itself. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42918 "2016-04-24T12:49:09Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer ( Othello 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello 8. Claire Danes, Romeo and Juliet 9. Alan Cumming, MacBeth 10. Maggie Smith, Desdemona (opposite Laurence Olivier) 11. Denzel Washington, Much Ado About Nothing ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42919 "2016-04-24T16:56:18Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer ( Othello 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello 8. Claire Danes, Romeo and Juliet 9. Alan Cumming, MacBeth 10. Maggie Smith, Desdemona (opposite Laurence Olivier) 11. Denzel Washington, Much Ado About Nothing 12. Judi Dench, Lady Macbeth ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42920 "2016-04-24T17:05:27Z")
On Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary: Actors who have played roles on his plays 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet 2. Kenneth Branagh, King Henry V 3. David Tennant, Hamlet 4. Christopher Plummer ( Othello 5. Ian McKellen, King Lear 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo 7. Anthony Hopkins, Othello 8. Claire Danes, Romeo and Juliet 9. Alan Cumming, MacBeth 10. Maggie Smith, Desdemona (opposite Laurence Olivier) 11. Denzel Washington, Much Ado About Nothing 12. Judi Dench, Lady Macbeth 13. Olivia Hussy, Romeo and Juliet Next up: Trivia about Shakespeare’s life 1. His children were Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42921 "2016-04-24T17:37:27Z")
Next up: Trivia about Shakespeare’s life 1. His children were Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith 2. He died the same day as Cervantes’ But neither precisely verifiable within a day ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42922 "2016-04-24T18:05:13Z")
Next up: Trivia about Shakespeare’s life 1. His children were Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith 2. He died the same day as Cervantes’ 3. He married Ann Hathaway when he was 18 and she was around 26. Germaine Greer’s biography argues that Anne was not a “cougar”; some of Shakespeare’s writings show predatory young men in pursuit of attractive older women. Greer demonstrates that an unmarried woman in her mid-20s would not have been considered exceptional or desperate. Ann Hathaway, Greer argues, was likely to be literate, and given the relative standing of their families in Warwickshire, she may very well have been considered a more desirable match than her husband. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42923 "2016-04-24T18:49:24Z")
Trivia about Shakespeare’s life 1. His children were Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith 2. He died the same day as Cervantes’ 3. He married Ann Hathaway when he was 18 and she was around 26. 4. There are six surviving copies of his signature ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/42924 "2016-04-24T18:53:50Z")
Trivia about Shakespeare’s life 1. His children were Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith 2. He died the same day as Cervantes 3. He married Ann Hathaway when he was 18 and she was around 26. 4. There are six surviving copies of his signature 5. His son Hamnet died at age 11, quite possibly a victim of bubonic plague [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=2145) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=2147)