10 ms·
Introduced ... where? The distance components were created (arguably) about a hundred years before bits of Europe adopted it. When I was in Greenwich (the rea
by Jedd 6y ago
Introduced ... where?
The distance components were created (arguably) about a hundred years before bits of Europe adopted it.
When I was in Greenwich (the real one) years ago, our guide told the story, which may be apocryphal, that the Brits negotiated with the French way back about the meridian.
The Brits got to keep the prime meridian by agreeing to adopt metric.
Which they then failed do to do for a couple of centuries (and even then ...).
Unfortunately I can't find anything to substantiate this story just now.
- fanf2 6y agoGreenwich became the standard meridian at the International Meridian Conference in Washington DC in 1884 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Confere... It was at the instigation of the USA and it was partly to do with the establishment of the time zone system, and partly to do with marine navigation charts. Britain had the best charts at the time so there was a significant practical reason to bless Greenwich (with 180° being the second choice). The French obviously did not like the result, but there wasn’t any quid pro quo about adopting the metric system.