NavList:

Why the 24 hour day?

"The origins of our 24 hour day can be traced back at least 4000 years, to
ancient Egypt and Babylon. The Egyptians and Babylonians divided the parade
of stars that appeared in the sky each night into 12 sections, marked by the
various stars that rose and set that night. For example, the star Procyon
might rise shortly after sunset one evening, followed about an hour later by
Sirius. This defined a kind of heavenly clock, although different groups of
12 stars were used to cope with the slow shift of the night sky during the
year. The daylight hours were divided into 12, to match. Two sets of 12 give
24, hence the number of hours in a day.

Why 12? 12 is more or less the number of moon cycles in a year, so it's a
special number in many cultures."

http://homepage.mac.com/pete.boardman/24hourclock/history.html

Bill


--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---