For artistic qualities the Wikipedia explanation takes beating,in order
to fit the sidereal day into the 24 hour/360 degree terrestial
longitude equivalency it is the wraparound spherical geometry of the
Earth that does it !.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_time

Nobody associates words such as courage and bravery with astronomy but
that is only because mediocrity can never claim those attributes.This
is all wrong and somebody needs to surmount the threats of ostracism to
clear up a mess we inherited with total transparency as to the nature
of the mistake,who made it and who adopted it.