8 ounces in a cup, 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard,
16 ounces in a pound, 4 quarts in a gallon,
43,560 square feet in an acre
What a Number Stew!
The US is the outlier. The other 95% + of the world use the metric system. Canada established a Metric commission in 1971 and over Labor Day weekend in 1977 every speed limit sign in the country was changed from MPH to KPH.
US Metric History |
1968 |
Congress authorized a three-year study of US systems of measurement, performed by the Department of Commerce. A 45-member panel created a detailed report called “A Metric America: A Decision Whose Time Has Come” The study recommended a “carefully planned transition to predominant use of the metric system over a ten-year period.” |
1975 |
Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act and President Gerald Ford signed it into law on December 23, 1975. The United States Metric Board was established to plan, coordinate, and educate the public for and about metrification. A process of voluntary conversion was initiated. |
1982 |
The efforts of the board were mostly ignored and President Ronald Reagan abolished it. Coincidently, renewable energy provided the White House with a solar water heater for seven years, until President Ronald Reagan had the panels removed in 1986. |
What Holds Us Back?
Support for the metric system has been around since the 1700s. The United States has been able to impose its products, manufactured in their unconventional units, on other nations. But, our dominance is slipping. We can’t assume that our unique sizes will continue to be accepted in other strong markets, like the European Union, the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Africa, and the expanding markets of the Pacific Rim.