It is so fascinating to me, that of all the things that have changed in the world, the 60 min/sec has remained basically the same throughout recorded history. I'm talking Ancient Sumeria, so let's be real, probably before that too. Other than some real fun guys during the French Revolution, we really stuck with this.
One of my favorite time keeping/astrological facts is that the not only are the planets responsible for our standard 7-day week (ie. Sun/Sunday, the Moon/Monday, Mars/Tuesday, Mercury/Wednesday, Jupiter/Thursday, Venus/Friday, and Saturn/Saturday), but also the 24-hour days.
Some ancient astrologer wanted each day to have it's own planet and for each hour to have it's own planet. Thus, the common denominator that allows each day to have it's own planet while still maintaining an easily divisible number is ...24. This, of course, also explains the weird order of the planets of the week.
We happen to know this for sure because the attached table was actually discovered written on the inside of an Egyptian sarcophagus, which itself is the earliest known table.
So, as a result, 4000 years later, you organize your entire life around some ancient Egyptian's spreadsheet.
@RickiTarr
I'll likely be called barbaric by some, but I am all in favour of simplifying and generally making things like time more accessible, e.g. using a decimal system. I'm actually in favour of ironing out some of the kinks in the English language, e.g. spelling, because it's needlessly difficult to learn and use
@RickiTarr
I just looked up the etymology of the word "slang" and in earliest attested use, slang referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early 19thC, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. I particularly like that, according to the Wiki entry, in Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip".
I like slang and am often looking up urbandictionary.com
The French Revolution guys also tried to completely change the work week and the calendar with new holidays every single day, honestly, they sound like a blast.
@RickiTarr I'm not sure who maintains this bot or why it sometimes skips days, but here's an account that often provides "today's" Republican Calendar entry: https://botsin.space/@sansculotides
It's always a tiny delight to encounter on here & a welcome reminder that we can make our world better!
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