Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: Not The Beginning Of The World
Description: According to the 17th-century Archbishop James Ussher, the world began on 23rd October, 4004 BC at precisely midday.Today, it is easy to ridicule Ussher’s date – and plenty of people do – but his methodology was scrupulous and his calculations were in line with most of the best estimates of his age.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss what was behind the 17th Century fascination with the age of the Earth; investigate how the Gideon Society made Ussher a household name; and ask whether Ussher was the original superfan (with the caveat that h...