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Al-Bīrūnī (a Persian scholar in the 11th century) computed angles on minutes, seconds thirds (60ths of a second), and even fourths (60ths of thirds).

I believe he suggested time could be divided by these units as well, although I can't find the exact reference, so I could be wrong on that count.




As I said about a thousand years ago — relatively recently as far as timekeeping goes.




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