The division of a day into 24 hours can be traced back to ancient civilizations, particularly the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. The concept of a 24-hour day is believed to have originated with the ancient Egyptians, who used sundials to measure time during the day and developed a system of dividing the day into ten "hours" of daylight, one hour of sunrise, and twelve "hours" of darkness.
Later, the Babylonians further refined the concept by introducing a sexagesimal system, which is based on the number 60. They divided the day and night into 12 equal parts each, resulting in a total of 24 hours.
The use of a base-60 system by the Babylonians is thought to have been influenced by their advanced knowledge of astronomy and their use of a sexagesimal system for mathematical calculations. The number 60 had convenient mathematical properties, as it has many divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30), making it suitable for time measurement and mathematical calculations.
The adoption of a 24-hour day by subsequent civilizations and cultures can be attributed to the influence of these early systems developed by the Egyptians and Babylonians. Over time, the 24-hour day became widely accepted and standardized, and it continues to be used as a common unit of time measurement in most parts of the world today.
It's worth noting that other cultures have used different systems to measure time. For example, the ancient Chinese used a system of dividing the day into 12 double-hours, resulting in a 24-hour day as well. Ultimately, the adoption of the 24-hour day as a global standard can be attributed to historical and cultural factors that influenced the development of timekeeping systems.