James Ussher

James Ussher was a prominent scholar and church leader in the 17th century. He was born in Dublin to a well-to-do family and entered Trinity College Dublin at the age of thirteen. He became a professor of theology, a bishop of Meath, and an archbishop of Armagh. He was involved in religious politics and tried to reconcile the Anglican and Presbyterian factions in the Church of England. He was also a prolific writer and researcher, who published works on the history of Christianity, the authenticity of the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch, and the chronology of the Old Testament. He is most famous for his calculation of the date of creation as 4004 BC, based on a literal interpretation of the biblical genealogies. He died in Reigate, Surrey, in 1656, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.