Celestial bodies rely upon the apparent motion of bodies throughout the sky to determine seasons, months, and years. The sun, moon, planets, and stars have provided a reference for measuring the passage of time. In every culture, some people were preoccupied with measuring and recording the passage of time. In Europe 20,000 years ago, ice-age hunters scratched lines in sticks and bones, counting the days between phases of the moon. Sumerians had a …show more content…
The pope approved that every fourth year would be a leap year with an extra day in February. Three days dropped every four centuries, avoiding deviation from the solar system. Secondly, the Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC, it was 365 ¼ days long and the solar year was 365.2422 days. This means that it exceeded the solar year by eleven minutes and fourteen seconds each year. The difference grew each century, so by the sixteenth century it was ten full days longer than the solar calendar. The pope ordered that the commission complete the final details of calendar reform, including an accurate lunar almanac. Thirdly, the Egyptian calendar is based on the moon’s cycle, which is a 365 day calendar that began in 3100 BC. Fourthly, the Mayan calendar relied on the sun, moon, and the planet Venus, which established a 250 day or 365 day