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Patrick D. Gallagher, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, provided the official response stating that customary units were defined in the metric system, thus making the nation "bilingual" in terms of measurement systems. [35] Gallagher also said that using the metric system was a choice to be made by individuals. [35]
The 20th century history of measurement is marked by five periods: the 1901 definition of the coherent MKS system; the intervening 50 years of coexistence of the MKS, cgs and common systems of measures; the 1948 Practical system of units prototype of the SI; the introduction of the SI in 1960; and the evolution of the SI in the latter half century.
Over time, the metric system has influenced the United States through international trade and standardisation. The use of the metric system was made legal as a system of measurement in 1866 [165] and the United States was a founding member of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in 1875. [166]
The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by U.S. President Gerald Ford on December 23, 1975. [1] It declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", but permitted the use of United States customary units in all activities.
The United States customary system of units of 1832 is based on the system in use in the United Kingdom prior to the introduction to the British imperial system on January 1, 1826. [6] Both systems are derived from English units , an older system of units which had evolved over the millennia before American independence , and which had its ...
The metric system was first described in 1668 and officially adopted by France in 1799. Over the 19th and 20th centuries, it became the dominant system worldwide, although several countries, including the United States, China, and the United Kingdom continue to use their customary units. [ 12 ]
The International System of Units is the modern metric system. It is based on the metre–kilogram–second–ampere (MKSA) system of units from early in the 20th century. [20] It also includes numerous coherent derived units for common quantities like power (watt) and irradience (lumen).
At the First United States Congress, which met in 1789 when the decimal metric system had not yet been developed in France, the system of units to be used in the U.S. was one point of discussion. Under the Constitution (article I, section 8), the Congress has the constitutional right to decide on a standard of weights and measures .