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Originally Posted by Dongless
Errrr, what?
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The number 360 as the number of 'degrees' (or minimal/practical sub-arcs) in a circle, and hence the unit of a degree as a sub-arc of 1⁄360 of the circle, was probably adopted because it approximates the number of days in a year. Ancient astronomers noticed that the stars in the sky, which circle the celestial pole every day, seem to advance in that circle by approximately one-360th of a circle, i.e. one degree, each day. Primitive calendars, such as the Persian Calendar used 360 days for a year. Its application to measuring angles in geometry can possibly be traced to Thales who popularized geometry among the Greeks and lived in Anatolia (modern western Turkey) among people who had dealings with Egypt and Babylon.
That means a complete turnaround