Why America doesn’t use the metric system* and other fun measurement facts.
In 1793, the brand-new United States of America needed a standard measuring system because the states were using their own systems, making interstate commerce difficult.
They heard about a new French system and thought it was just what America needed. The French sent a scientist to America with a small copper cylinder with a little handle on top. It was about 3 inches tall and about the same wide. It was a standard for weighing things, part of a weights and measure system now known as the metric system. It weighed 1 kilogram.
Crossing the Atlantic, the ship ran into a giant storm blowing it off course into the Caribbean Sea. And you know who was lurking in Caribbean waters in the late 1700s? Pirates.
The pirates took the scientist prisoner, hoping to obtain a ransom for him. Unfortunately, the scientist died in captivity and the pirates auctioned off the contents of the ship. Thus, America missed an opportunity to adopt the metric system of weights and measurement.
(Source: https://n.pr/2MjSzWO)
Other fun measurement facts:
- Since May 2019, the standard weight of a kilogram is measured by Planck’s constant (a number that relates the energy and frequency of light).
- English weights and measure standards were first written in the Magna Carta in 1215.
- The National Measurement Institute maintains Australia’s measurement standards.
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* The USA uses the metric system for international trade.