Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
All of Shakespeare's sonnets (along with some other heavy-hitters like MLK's "I have a Dream" speech) are now encoded in DNA. Shakespeare, meet the manuscript of the 21st century. (Source.)
"The Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare" currently enjoys 2561 verified signatures, 32 notable signatures, and 440 academic signatures. That's a lot of people who think the guy behind the sonnets was a whole different dude. (Source.)
The Supreme Court has offered opinions on the authorship of Shakespeare's works. The tally: 3 no comments, 1 "no idea," 1 "no informed views," 2 behind the Earl of Oxford, and only 2 rooting solidly for Shakespeare. Ruth Bader Ginsberg advanced an alternate theory, presenting "a March email from her daughter Jane, a law professor currently in Rome. Jane Ginsburg wrote she recently saw an Italian television program postulating that 'Shakespeare was Sicilian and Jewish, sort of.'" (Source.)
Sonnet 55 is quoted for the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of "sluttish." WOOT. If you can't get access, here's the full def: "Of persons: Dirty and untidy in dress and habits, esp. to an extent which is repulsive or disgusting. Now spec. of women." (Source.)