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4236 BC
The
ancient Egyptians produced the first working and usable calendar. It dates
back as far as 4236 B.C.
This ancient calendar was based on the cycles of the moon and the
Egyptians regulated the calendar by using the stars. Through observation,
the ancient Egyptians noticed that a group of stars (Canis Major) rises
next to the sun every 365 days. They noticed that this always occurred a
few days before the annual flooding of the Nile River. This information
was very helpful to them from an agricultural standpoint.
Ancient Egyptians tied
astronomy together with the telling of time. They developed a calendar of
365 days a year. They divided the day and night into 24 hours and adjusted
the length of the hours according to the season. They were among the first
people to begin the day at midnight. When Roman leader Julius Caesar
introduced the Julian calendar, it was based on discussions with Egyptian
astronomers and that calendar was used until a slightly modified version,
called the Gregorian calendar replaced it in 1582.
Did you know that these pyramids align with the stars in Orion's Belt?
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