British geologists are celebrating the 6,000th anniversary of the birth of the universe today.

At 6pm tonight at the Geological Society of London, scientists will raise their glasses to James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, who in 1650 used the chronology of the Bible to calculate the precise date and moment of creation.

Working from the book of Genesis, and risking some speculation on the Hebrew calendar, he calculated that it began at 6pm on Saturday October 22, 4004 BC.

Actually, he put the date at October 23, and then pedantically realised that time must have begun the night before, because the Bible said that "the evening and the morning were the first day."

One thing that this does not take into account, is that 6,000 years after 4004 BC is actually 1997AD -- seven years ago.

Posted by: mhking at 11:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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