• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Firsts / Who Established the First Calendars?

Who Established the First Calendars?

July 18, 2020 by Karen Hill

Primitive humans used the cycles of nature as their calendars. They noted day and night, the sprouting of leaves, heavy rainfalls, number of harvests, and, later, the changing position of the sun and moon among the stars.

They used all these as time markers. These observations were the forerunners of the more elaborate calendars later civilizations made based on astronomical principles.

Babylonian priests of 1500 B.C. developed a calendar based on calculations of alternating 29-day and 30-day months. Because their calendars were not accurate to coincide with a true 365-day year, the Babylonians often decreed an “extra” month in their calendar. Therefore, some years had 12 months; others, 13.

The first 12-month, 365-day calendar, as we know it, was used by the Egyptians as early as 4241 B.C. It had 12 months of 30 days each, with 5 1/4 days extra at the end of the year.

The Egyptians used the annual flooding of the Nile River to accurately set up their calendar!

Related Facts

  • When Was the Legal Drinking Age First Established and What Is the Minimum Age To Serve In the Military?
  • Who Were the First Europeans To Settle In Delaware and When Was the New Sweden Colony Established?
  • What was the first African American Church in America and When was it established?
  • When were the first border patrols established between Mexico and the United States?
  • Which Countries Are Located At the Prime Meridian and When Was the Greenwich Meridian Established?
  • When Was the Lost Colony Established On Roanoke Island and How Did the Group Disappear?
  • What were Freedom Schools and Why were they established for African Americans during the 1960s?
  • Who was the First Person to Come Up the Idea of Dogs Leading the Blind and Where was the First School?
  • When Did the First Zoo In the World Open and Where Was the First Zoo In the United States?
  • When Was the First Telescope Invented and How Did Hans Lippershey Invent the First Optical Telescope?
  • Who Built the First Liquid Fueled Rocket In the World and When Was the First Liquid Fueled Rocket Launched?
  • Who Made the First Color Photograph In History and How Did James Clerk Maxwell Make the First Color Photo?

Filed Under: Firsts

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « When Were the First Clocks Made?
Next Post: How Did Governments Begin? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy