Why a minute has 60 seconds (and an hour 60 minutes)
The division of time into 60 isn't decimal by accident — it comes from an ancient counting system that has survived for millennia.
A legacy of the sexagesimal system
Dividing time into 60 comes from the sexagesimal system (base 60) used by Mesopotamian civilisations, notably the Babylonians. They relied on it for astronomy and calculation, and the practice carried through the centuries to our clocks.
Why 60 rather than 100?
60 has a practical edge: it divides cleanly by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30. This wealth of divisors makes it easy to split time into thirds, quarters or sixths — far handier than 100, which doesn't divide into three.
From the sky to seconds
The same logic split the circle into 360 degrees, then each degree into 60 arc-minutes and each minute into 60 arc-seconds. Time inherited the scheme: an hour of 60 minutes, a minute of 60 seconds.
Measuring the second today
To really feel how long a second or a minute lasts, nothing beats a stopwatch: start it, count, and compare your perception with real time.