The vigesimal system (counting in base 20), used by French, is thought to originate from humans’ fingers and toes. Don't know the dozenal system, used by British, originate from?
As the article says, 12 has more divisors, which may explain its popularity in pre-decimal finance. What's also interesting is how 16 ounces (perversely derived from Latin 1/12th) to the pound became popular with grocers - you can always get to an ounce from a pound by repeatedly dividing in half.
