• digger@latte.isnot.coffee
    1·
    1 year ago

    Fun fact: Ancient Egyptians used a base 12 for time (and in some other places) because we have have 12 segments on our index through pinky fingers. They used their thumbs as a placeholder or to count. That base 12 system then turned into the 24 hour clock system we use today.

    • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
      1·
      1 year ago

      There’s also evidence of an early base-12 system in use for some Indo-Europeans – it’s likely why the English morphology doesn’t become compositional until 13:

      Ten (not compositional)

      Eleven (not compositional)

      Twelve (not compositional)

      Thirteen (related to three-ten)

      Fourteen (relates to four-ten)

      Etc.