How many moles of Guacamole did Bishop Ussher consume on this day? How about Samuel S. Snow on the same day some years later? Not that this Epic FAIL is going to deter the True Believers – dealing with them is a “a repetitious and futile task” and they’ll keep coming up with fresh dates. I bet many expect this November 4th to be one of those dates….
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Guacamole contains tomato and avocado – both new world plants. In the 17th century, these Aztec foods had probably reached Spain – but perhaps not most of the rest of Europe. Ussher probably never tasted either.
Furthermore, Ussher originally calculated the date assuming the Julian Calendar. On the Gregorian Calendar, I’m not sure what date it should be – the adjustment should be 15 days per 2000 years, thus, 45 days, thus, September 8th. But Wikipedia says September 21. I must be missing some ugly detail.
Anyway – Ussher wrote that he was uncertain both about the exact number of begats – he thought some might of been lost or added by mistake – and that he was uncertain about the length of time represented by each begat – so the exact day was not meaningful.