Bishop James Ussher (1581 - 1656) was Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He calculated that the universe was created on this day in 4004 BC, or more correctly the night before this day. In addition to astute Biblical scholarship, the calculation required a knowledge of ancient history. Ussher's estimates of ancient dates were pretty good for his time.
We now know that his calculation was flawed because the Bible is completely wrong about creation but it is unfair to make fun of Ussher based on what we learned several centuries later.
Happy Birthday Universe.
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