National Metric Day
is observed every year
on 10/10.
It has been observed annually
on October 10th since 1976.
on October 10th since 1976.
Showing posts with label Metric System. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metric System. Show all posts
Thomas Jefferson and the Metric System
The efforts to introduce a system of measurements based on 10 date back to Thomas Jefferson. It was not exactly the metric system as we know today, but an original system of measures based on 10.
Here is an example of those original units:
Length
"Let the foot be divided into 10 inches; the inch into 10 lines; the line into 10 points. Let 10 feet make a decad; 10 decads one rood; 10 roods a furlong; 10 furlongs a mile"
Weight
"Let the ounce be divided into 10 double scruples, the double scruple into 10 carats; the carat into 10 minims or demi-grains, the minim into 10 mites. Let 10 ounces make a pound; 10 pounds a stone..."
If that does not sound familiar, that's OK. Despite the fact that the idea was supported by people like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, the system proposed by Jefferson was never accepted.
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Just for the record... Where are we with the units today?
National Metric Day 2017
October 10, the tenth day of the tenth month has been named National Metric Day since 1983.
Metric System - 150 Years in the United States
The metric system was officially recognized as a system of measurement that can be used in the United States on July 28, 1866
Source: 39t Congress, Chapter 301
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act it shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system"
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