Why does a new day start at 12 midnight?

 

Why does a new day start at 12 midnight?

Time is a big subject; it has a lot of importance in science.

The invention of time and clocks is a gradual process that has evolved over thousands of years. Ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians and Babylonians, developed methods for measuring time using sundials and water clocks. The first mechanical clock was invented in the 14th century by a German monk named Peter Heinlein. The invention of the pendulum clock in the 17th century by Dutch mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens greatly improved the accuracy of timekeeping. The invention of quartz crystal oscillators in the 20th century led to the development of quartz clocks and watches, which are even more accurate than mechanical and pendulum clocks.

Our day depends on the hands of the clock i.e., what time it is now, what time we have to work, etc.

But the question is why does the new day start at 12 midnight (according to the Gregorian or Julian calendar)?

The answer is not simple but quite complicated, but it is clear that it happened with the help of ancient Rome. To explain this, you must first understand AM and PM.

The day starts at 12:00 AM because it is the beginning of a new day and it is the first moment of the day, just like how the hour starts at 12:00 AM and is the first moment of the hour. The concept of AM and PM is used to divide the 24-hour day into two parts, where AM refers to the morning hours and PM refers to the afternoon and evening hours. 12:00 AM is the start of the first 12-hour period, while 12:00 PM is the start of the second 12-hour period.

AM stands for the Latin phrase ante meridiem, which means before noon or before noon.

PM stands for the Latin phrase post meridiem, which means afternoon or afternoon.

In ancient Egypt, the day was divided into 24 parts or hours, and the position of the sun in the sky was taken into account to determine the time.

This system is now known as a sundial, and since the sundial system cannot operate at night, it is necessary to use terms such as AM PM to determine between noon and midnight. it's called something else). Sundials were invented a thousand years before the number 0 or 0, so the number 12 is used for the middle part of the day.

In ancient Rome, the system of AM and PM was adopted and thus formed 12, 2 groups of 12 hours, i.e., 12 hours of the day and 12 hours of the night.

In 159 BC, a water clock arrived in Rome that could tell 12 o'clock at night.

For this reason, the Romans started their day from midnight for business and social activities, as trading activities at that time of the night were negligible.

The Romans thought that changing the date to the afternoon would be too confusing, such as having lunch on Tuesday and returning to work on Wednesday, which would cause various problems. So gradually it became a tradition and even now there is no change.