The Reason We Have 7 Days in a Week

How did we get the days of the week? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down the planets of the ancients and how they correspond to our days of the week.

How many planets were there to the ancient Greeks and Romans? Learn about the meaning of the word “planet,” the names of the days, and how we got seven days in a week. Plus, learn how Copernicus later discovered a planet that was right under our noses.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: The Days of the Week
00:28 - The Planets
2:04 - The Origin of Each Day
7:10 - Why We Have Seven Days

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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[StarTalk]

Shout-out to Planet George! ♅ 🪐 Are we happy this planet got renamed?

[BIKI]

If you ever listen to anything while reading comments, let it be this - go to borlest and read the book whispers of manifestation, then come back and thank me

[RokinDokin]

Pluto, NEVER FORGET. You're still a planet for me.

[chadex]

Never thought I’d be entertained by people talking about the days of the week. Bravo gentlemen, bravo! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[akashpatel]

In India also we have different names based on the planet. Of course we have many different languages but the naming rules sames. This follow list is in Gujarati language.

Sunday : Ravivar ( Ravi means sun, Var means day)
Monday : Somwar ( moon day)
Tuesday: Mangalvar ( Mars day)
Wednesday: Budhvar ( Mercury day)
Thursday : Guruvar ( Jupiter day)
Friday : Shukrvar ( Venus day)
Saturday: shanivar ( saturn day)


( edited: I want to clarify that India had also two additional planets in terms of astrology. Rahu and Ketu. These are shadow planets that were used to calculate eclipses. Interesting concept rather unheard of. )

[RighteousBeardArts]

As an French teacher in elementary school, whenever I introduce French days of the week, I talk about the Norse, Roman, and Greek connections.

[BrickImmortar]

"Neptune and thennn..." "We're done."

Pluto has left the chat.

[dusermiginte]

In Sweden. Many days are named after our ancient gods..

Monday - Moon day. "Måndag".
Tuesday - Tyr. "Tisdag".
Wednesday - Oden. (Onsdag).
Thursday - Thor. (Torsdag).
Friday - Freja. (Fredag).
Saturday - Is the day we take a bath(??) (Lördag)
Sunday - Is named after the Sun.
Sol, Sunna/Sunne in Sweden. (Söndag).

[yogeshavl]

In Hindi it's straightforward.

Sunday- Raviwar, Ravi means Sun and war means day.
Monday - Somwar, Som means Moon
Tuesday - Mangalwar, Mangal means Mars
Wednesday - Budhwar, Budh means Mercury
Thursday - Guruwar/Brihaspatiwar, Guru of all the planets Jupiter, Bharaspati means Guru.
Friday - Shukrawar, Shukra means Venus
Saturday - Shaniwar, Shani means Saturn

[themoneyman]

Chuck Nice is hilarious. His sense of humor is so quick witted, I wish I had that talent 😂😂😂

[modalize]

That explanation sounds like when ur back in school and teacher asks you to recall the events of the book that you were supposed to read, but didn’t

[DubultaisT]

Start talk, history and linguistics in one video. My neurons are screaming Thank You, Neil and Chuck ❤

[tharindudayarathna]

In Sinhala (in Sri Lanka)
Sunday = Irida, ira = sun
Monday = Sanduda, Sandu = Moon
Tuesday = Angaharuwada, Angaharu = Mars
Wednesday = Badada, Buda = Mercury
Thursday = Brahaspathinda, Brahaspathi = Jupiter
Friday = Sikurada, Sikuru = Venus
Saturday = Senasurada, Senasuru = Saturn

[itxclangamer]

There is also a link between the seven planets with the seven known metals of the ancient times.

Sun - Gold
Moon - Silver
Mercury - Mercury
Venus - Copper
Mars - Iron
Jupiter - Tin
Saturn - Lead

Therefore, in Hindi, the metal gold is called 'sona' while the metal silver is called 'Chandi'. (Chand means moon)

[mackify]

I had these talk at 10 with my science teacher who told me I was wrong. I figured it all out once I learned the names of certain Greek and Roman gods. she just matched the days of the week. That inspired me to go further. I wish I had a real science teacher.

[DaniielPineda]

"Neptune and thennn..." "No. We're done."

[vin]

I’m a native Spanish speaker and am studying Japanese and when it came to learning the days of the week in Japanese I noticed this pattern of naming them in accordance with the original seven planets.

As opposed to English and Spanish where the days of the week are named after the gods associated with each planet, the Japanese named them after their associated elements (with the exception of the Moon and the Sun). For example, 火 means “fire”, the element associated with 火星(kasei), the “Fire Star” Mars. Thus, Tuesday in Japanese is 火曜日(kayoubi) the “Fire Day”

Then repeat this for the other planets.

水 = Water, 水星(suisei) = Mercury, 水曜日(suiyoubi) = Wednesday

木 = Tree/Wood, 木星(mokusei) = Jupiter, 木曜日(mokuyoubi) = Thursday

金 = Gold, 金星(kinsei) = Venus, 金曜日(kinyoubi) = Friday

土 = Earth, 土星(dosei) = Saturn, 土曜日(doyoubi) = Saturday.

Monday and Sunday are simply named after 月(“the Moon”) and 日(“the Sun”) respectively, leaving 月曜日(getsuyoubi) as Monday and 日曜日(nichiyoubi) as Sunday.

Somewhat related side note: Because Uranus and Neptune were discovered far after the others, they didn’t have an associated element, so in this case they were named after the gods. Uranus was named after Ouranos, the God of the Sky, so in Japanese 天王星 (tennousei) means the “The Sky King’s Star” Uranus. Neptune was of course named after Neptune, the God of the Sea, so 海王星 (kaiousei) is the “Sea King’s Star” Neptune.

[simonrancourt]

In French,
Monday is called (lundi), "Lune" is French for "Moon".
Tuesday is called "mardi" (Mars)
Wednesday is called "mercredi" (Mercury)
Thursday is called "jeudi" (Jupiter)
Friday is called "vendredi" (Venus)

[rickmastenbroek]

Hello Gentlemen, fun fact:
Thursday in dutch is called Donderdag... wich translates back to Thunderday. So we named it after the sound Thor makes, but not after his own name.

[DoctorPhilGud]

I was struggling to keep all the spanish days of the week memorized but now that i realize that spanish is just keeping with the names of the planets it makes it so much easier to remember.

Thank you guys for helping me with my duolingo courses