So anybody know what is it about the number twelve that makes it so special?

At school I was taught multiplication ("times") tables up to 12, and there it ended. Maybe because it is/was a commonly occurring number?

[thinks]
12 months in a year, 12 hours on a clock (analogue of course), a dozen eggs ummmm - ah, imperial measurements: 12 inches in a foot, 12 (old) pence in a shilling... Hmm, maybe not that common.

So why not stick with decimal systems? After all, most people have ten fingers and toes.

I must be missing something blindingly obvious.