| 3/19/1616 |
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Cervantes' Foot in Don Quixote's Stirrup
They are a half-millenium old, but a handful of the real windmills at which Don Quixote tilted still stand in La Mancha. Some work, some are tourist boutiques, one is a library devoted to preserving editions of The History of the Ingenious Knight-Errant Don Quixote in the over sixty languages into which it has been translated -- including, Cervantes would smile to know, braille. . . . |
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| 4/23/1616 |
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Shakespeare, Cervantes & World Book Day
On this day in 1616 both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died, and this is also the generally accepted day of Shakespeare's birth (1564). This alignment of the literary stars requires some calendar juggling, but it has prompted UNESCO to declare today "World Book and Copyright Day." (And the day coincides nicely with Turn Off the TV Week, now observed in many countries.) |
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