October 23

According to the calculations of James Ussher (January 4, 1581 to March 21, 1656), the 23rd in 4004 BC was the first full day that the universe was in existence, it having been created in the evening of the preceding day. Ussher used as his frame of reference the proleptic Julian calendar. There are faults in the standard Julian calendar and those faults are amplified in the proleptic version because of pesky things like leap seconds, minutes and years, all of which add up over the span of a couple of millennia. Ussher however was supremely confident in his calculations and in the 17th century world in which Ussher worked minor details such as leap thingys, questionable logic, etc. could be confidently brushed aside if a person possessed academic credentials which were sufficiently brilliant. Ussher had those in spades. He was a gifted academician and theologian. In the 1620s, he was made Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, although I am certain that he was also a primate when he visited England. In fact, I feel confident in stating that he was a primate wherever he went. I wish I knew why the articles I have read about him refer to him as the Primate of all Ireland. Weren’t all the other people there primates as well? Why make such a big deal about Ussher? Is this an example of early species profiling? Ussher’s calculations sit comfortably alongside of those made by the Venerable Bede, and Bede worked in the 9th century so he probably had access to more first hand reports and got to check out his facts before all the souvenir shops went up, and things were all jumbled up.