Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sparked an Internet supernova on Christmas Day when he took to Twitter to troll Christians.
“On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world,” the “Cosmos” host tweeted Thursday. “Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642.”
The meteoric missive by the director of the Hayden Planetarium was retweeted more than 57,000 times and sparked plenty of vitriol.
Tyson — long despised among religious conservatives — further incensed the faithful celebrating the birth of Jesus by tweeting: “Merry Christmas to all. A Pagan holiday (BC) becomes a Religious holiday (AD). Which then becomes a Shopping holiday (USA).”
Others disputed the date Tyson cited for the birth of Newton, the father of modern physics.
“No, he didn’t,” tweeted @fedkusko. “According to the Gregorian calendar he was born January 4th 1643.”
Newton was born while England used the Julian calendar, which put his birthdate as Dec. 25, 1642 — while the Gregorian calendar was used elsewhere.
Jesus Christ’s birthdate also has been questioned and researchers believe the Dec. 25 date was chosen because it coincided with existing pagan festivals.
Tyson glossed over the date in yet another tweet:
Tyson could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.
Not everyone was bothered by the brouhaha, with @rafaelordaya tweeting: