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> In 1793, Thomas Jefferson requested artifacts from France that could be used to adopt the metric system in the United States, and Joseph Dombey was sent from
by jacobolus 6y ago
> In 1793, Thomas Jefferson requested artifacts from France that could be used to adopt the metric system in the United States, and Joseph Dombey was sent from France with a standard kilogram. Before reaching the United States, Dombey's ship was blown off course by a storm and captured by pirates, and he died in captivity on Montserrat.
More seriously, blame the Reagan administration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Stat...
- capableweb 6y agoThanks for that link! Seems to outline that there has been many attempts, some still ongoing, but not making a lot of progress. Seems weird to fault all of these failed attempts to the Reagan administration, but I guess that's also an American thing to do, attribute issues to one group of people, not the one you're in, but "the other group".
- rovr138 6y ago> but not making a lot of progress That part reminded me of Puerto Rico. Streets are marked with kilometer markers, rural addresses are street and km and hectometers. Also everyone miles for everything else. I’m actually not sure which conversion failed.
- rdl 6y agoAnd land is measured in "spanish acres" as well (Cuerda).
- tomjakubowski 6y agoAnd two different scales of magnitudes (US-style "short scale", and "long scale" from Spanish colonial days), meaning two different meanings for millions and billions! https://metricpioneer.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/long-scale-and-short-scale-how-much-is-a-billion-it-depends-where-you-live/ https://metricpioneer.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/long-scale-an...
- rovr138 6y agoAnd not a small difference! And people misuse it all the time.
- rovr138 6y agoWe have a bit of a mess back home