Why are there 60 minutes in an hour?

We count in tens because we have ten fingers. So why is time counted in sixties?

The answer again goes back to Babylon. The Babylonians counted in sixties — a system called sexagesimal. Sixty is a wonderfully convenient number: it divides evenly by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30. You can split an hour into halves, thirds, quarters or fifths without any fractions. Try that with 100.

Babylonian astronomers divided the circle into 360 degrees, each degree into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds. Greek astronomers kept the system, medieval clockmakers copied it, and here we are.

The word ‘minute’ means ‘small part’ and ‘second’ means ‘the second small division’ — a small part of a small part.