Why is it that we officially start a new day at midnight instead of at dawn?
In: Other
Anywhere off the equator, the time dawn and dusk start changes a lot depending on the month.
What doesn’t change at all is midday.
The people who made clocks would figure out exactly the position a shadow would move to when the sun was at its highest.
That point is called Meridiem in latin.
Since they had a point they could always measure, they divided the day into “Before Meridiem” or “Ante Meridiem (AM)” in latin, and “After Meridiem” or “Post Meridiem (PM)” in latin.
And since Midday was now the middle of the day, it made sense that the opposite time was the start/end of the day.
Hence why the day begins at midnight.
Latest Answers