Article Summary
Posted by bio_man   Feb 20, 2019    1302 views

There are two measurement systems used in the world today: the imperial system (also known as the English system) and the metric system.

The imperial system was developed in England hundreds of years ago and was brought to the the United States by the colonists. The metric system is the accepted measurement system used in most countries of the world. It is a system based on multiples of 10. The metric system was developed in France around 1790 and has been revised several times. Its official name today is the International System of Units or SI Units for short.

Both systems have come a long way since their conception. Here are some noteworthy facts about both, which may have been "lost" in history, but are still worth mentioning today.

Base unit of mass

During the twentieth century, a variant of the metric system was used in Russia and France in which the base unit of mass was the tonne, rather than gram. Instead of kilograms, this system used millitonnes (mt).

Zero degrees Fahrenheit

When Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the first mercury thermometer, he called "zero degrees" the lowest temperature he was able to attain with a mixture of ice and salt. For the upper point of his scale, he used 96°, which he measured as normal human body temperature (we know it to be 98.6° today because of more accurate thermometers).

Metric calendar

There used to be a metric calendar, as well as metric clocks. The metric calendar, or "French Republican Calendar" divided the year into 12 months, but each month was divided into three 10-day weeks. Each day had 10 decimal hours. Each hour had 100 decimal minutes. Due to lack of popularity, the metric clocks and calendars were ended in 1795, three years after they had been first marketed.

Metric-based currency

Though the United States has largely rejected the metric system, it is used for currency, as in 100 pennies = 1 dollar. Previously, the British currency system was used, with measurements such as 12 pence to the shilling, and 20 shillings to the pound.

No Comments
   RSS Feed     Atom Feed     RDF Feed