Thirty-eight years ago today, on December 24, 1987 (November 4, 1987 in the lunar calendar), astronomers inferred the true date of Jesus' birth. On December 24, 1987, The Times reported that astronomical evidence suggested that Jesus Christ was born in the first half of 5 BC, even though Christmas had always been celebrated on December 25. Richard Stephenson of Durham University in England published his evidence in a recent issue of the Bulletin of Physics. The Gospel of St. Matthew proves that Herod died shortly after the birth of Christ. Joseph, a first-century Jewish historian, said that a lunar eclipse occurred shortly before Herod's death. The only two lunar eclipses visible in Israel during the reign of Herod the Great occurred on March 23, 5 B.C., and March 14, 4 B.C. Astronomers used computers to simulate the night sky during that period to see if the star Burleigh, mentioned in St. Matthew's Gospel, could be visible. Therefore, the newspaper said, astronomers' calculations could help historians find the date of Christ's birth.