October 23 Birthday
October 23, 4004 BCE: According to Archbishop James Ussher's 1650 chronology, this was the date God created the world. Ussher calculated it by working backward through biblical genealogies. His date was printed in the margins of many King James Bibles for centuries and was taken literally by many Christians. Modern science places the age of the Earth at 4.54 billion years. Also born this day: Michael Crichton, whose novel Jurassic Park popularized the idea that dinosaurs could be cloned from DNA preserved in amber. In the real world, DNA degrades too fast for this to work. People born on October 23 fall under the zodiac sign of Scorpio. The birthstone is Opal and the birth flower is Marigold. Historical events on October 23 include 4004 BCE: Creation of the world (per Archbishop Ussher), 1942: Battle of El Alamein begins, 1983: Beirut barracks bombing kills 307. Famous people born on October 23 include John Heisman (1866), Michael Crichton (1942), Weird Al Yankovic (1959).