Compass universally used as compass until the invention of the box-like compass with a 'dry' pivoting needle sometime around 1300. Originally, many compasses were marked only as to the direction of magnetic north, or to the four cardinal points (north, south, east, west). Later, these were divided, in China into 24, and in Europe into 32 equally spaced points around the compass card. For a table of the thirty-two points, see compass points. In the modern era, the 360-degree system took hold. This system is still in use today for civilian navigators. The degree system spaces 360 equidistant points located clockwise
Compass secular variation. The effect of this means a map with the latest declination information should be used. Some magnetic compasses include means to manually compensate for the magnetic declination, so that the compass shows true directions. There are other ways to find north than the use of magnetism, and from a navigational point of view a total of seven possible ways exist (where magnetism is one of the seven). Two sensors that utilize two of the remaining six principles are often also called compasses, i.e. gyrocompass and GPS-compass. A "gyrocompass" is similar to a gyroscope. It is a non-magnetic compass