On Saturday 22 December 2001 01:57, Alan Cox wrote:
> > > of Metrics. The funny thing is that Thomas Jefferson, an American
> > > President, suggested the Metric system to the French while he was
> > > ambassador there.
> >>
> >> Ewhat?!
>
> Must be a new disney movie...
OK. I guess that this seems like an "Al Gore Invented the Internet" thing
except that the system that he proposed was of his own invention (if not
the idea of basing it on ten.)
The facts are that a number of people in the scientific community had talked
about these things off and on for centuries. Thomas Jefferson is the first
recorded government official known to have made an official recommendation
for its use (again of his own derivation.) Alas, the US government was not
feeling _that_ brave yet, so they decided on an slightly altered system of
Imperial units.
As well all know, the French were fealing quite pissed off at everything
that had ever existed prior to 1789. In 1791, a very much living Louis XVI
summoned a commision to study changing the system of weights and measures.
It was during the Reign of Terror that they started making Guillotines based
on their newly fangled metre. Now, did Louis die of a new fangled
Guillotine? My French history fails me here.
This thread has become horribly off-topic.....
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