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34 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2019 Feature by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 The use of standards has, ultimately, pro- pelled civilization forward. As the electron- ics manufacturing industry works to create, revise, update, and restructure standards, it helps to take a moment to review how stan- dards, and the process of creating them, have occurred throughout history. One dictionary [1] defines a standard as: • Something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model • An object that is regarded as the usual or most common size or form of its kind • A rule or principle that is used as a basis of judgment • An average or normal requirement, quality, level, grade, etc. Time Is the Beginning Humans kept time by the Moon and the sea- sons for many millennia. The Egyptians are credited with developing the first solar calen- dar in about 3000 B.C. [2] . Coincidentally, at about the same time, the Mayan long-count calendar begins. However, it is unclear whether the long-count calendar starts with the first day of the calendar or the beginning of the world in Mayan mythology [3] . Interestingly, Chinese leg- end suggests that Emperor Huangdi invented the Chinese solar calendar in 2637 B.C., which is also around the same time. Overall, humans began keeping solar calendars simultaneously on widely separated parts of the globe. In general, solar calendars are based on pre- cise astronomical observations and indicate the emergence both of mathematics, and of some form of record-keeping, whether writ- ten or otherwise. This is because a solar calen- dar fits almost, but not exactly, into the Earth's rotational timing. The Earth's spin is slightly faster than the orbital rotation (known as the tropical year) so that a solar orbit completes in 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 sec- onds [4] . It's these fractional days that must be accounted for with leap days and other similar calendar adjustments. Standards Through Time: Changing to Stay the Same