Ever wonder why a minute has 60 seconds or an hour has 60 minutes? Why not 100? Or 42?

In this episode of Explain It Like I’m 5, host Alex unpacks the surprisingly weird, ancient, and math-filled story behind how humans learned to measure time, and why we still follow a Babylonian system from 4,000 years ago.

You’ll learn:

• Where our 60-second minute and 60-minute hour actually come from (hello, Babylonians 👋)

• How ancient Egypt, Greece, and medieval Europe shaped the way we tell time

• Why there are 24 hours in a day

• What trains had to do with standardizing time

• How atomic clocks and vibrating cesium atoms now define the second

• And why time is one of the strangest inventions we all just take for granted

We’ll talk sundials, time zones, clocks, Greenwich Mean Time, and how we went from shadows on cave walls to measuring 9,192,631,770 atomic vibrations all so you can show up to meetings “on time.”

Whether you’re a history nerd, a science geek, or just someone who’s always late, this episode will change the way you think about time… forever. Or at least for the next few minutes.