How did the person who invented the calendar know what day it was?
The correct answer and explanation is:
The person who invented the calendar did not “know” what day it was in the way we think of it today. Instead, early calendar systems were developed based on observations of natural cycles like the phases of the moon, the position of the sun, and the changing of seasons. These cycles provided a reliable way to track time, and early humans used these observations to create systems that divided time into units such as days, months, and years.
The earliest known calendars date back to ancient civilizations like the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Mayans, who observed the patterns in the skies. For example, the Sumerians used a lunar calendar, counting months based on the phases of the moon. The Egyptians, on the other hand, based their calendar on the solar year, closely tied to the annual flooding of the Nile River. This was an important agricultural event, which made tracking time crucial for planting and harvesting crops.
As knowledge of astronomy grew, civilizations developed more accurate and complex systems to measure time. The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, was based on the solar year and had 365 days, with an extra day added every four years (leap year). This system was later refined into the Gregorian calendar in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, which is the calendar most of the world uses today. It corrected the slight misalignment of the solar year with the Julian calendar, which had caused a drift in the calendar over centuries.
Ultimately, early calendar inventors were keen observers of nature and celestial events. By tracking the movement of the stars, sun, and moon, they could create systems to measure time and anticipate future events with increasing accuracy.