I don’t know why the U.S. gets shit for using the system that our colonial overlords forced us to use in the first place.
When America was colonized, the metric system did not exist. Saying that your “colonial overlords” forced it on you is silly - there were no better options at the time.
In fact, the metric system was created after US independence. So the US can only blame itself for not adapting it, unlike the UK which mostly adapted it.
“In 1793, Thomas Jefferson requested equipment from France that could be used to evaluate the metric system within the United States. Joseph Dombey returned from France with a standard kilogram. Before reaching the United States, Dombey’s ship was blown off course by a storm and captured by pirates, or strictly (British) privateers in the Caribbean, he died in captivity on Montserrat.”
The US has been close several times. Most recently in the late 1980s. But it was an uphill battle by then. We had layers of government and mature private industry that had decades of work in the old system.
Before that, the US had essentially the same issue. Retooling in industry. The US was an early adopter of industrialization. The only other country with a similar position was Britain. They only adopted it in the 60s. Most importantly, it was industry led and a hybrid system retained for the general public. It’s funny to realize that many US agencies like the NIST.
The US was the first to adopt a decimal coin system which is part of metrificsrion. But because everyone does it, we don’t think about it. On the flip side, no one adopted the metric calendar and there’s never been an attempt to meaningfully move away from the mixed base time system.
When America was colonized, the metric system did not exist. Saying that your “colonial overlords” forced it on you is silly - there were no better options at the time.
In fact, the metric system was created after US independence. So the US can only blame itself for not adapting it, unlike the UK which mostly adapted it.
“In 1793, Thomas Jefferson requested equipment from France that could be used to evaluate the metric system within the United States. Joseph Dombey returned from France with a standard kilogram. Before reaching the United States, Dombey’s ship was blown off course by a storm and captured by pirates, or strictly (British) privateers in the Caribbean, he died in captivity on Montserrat.”
The US has been close several times. Most recently in the late 1980s. But it was an uphill battle by then. We had layers of government and mature private industry that had decades of work in the old system.
Before that, the US had essentially the same issue. Retooling in industry. The US was an early adopter of industrialization. The only other country with a similar position was Britain. They only adopted it in the 60s. Most importantly, it was industry led and a hybrid system retained for the general public. It’s funny to realize that many US agencies like the NIST.
The US was the first to adopt a decimal coin system which is part of metrificsrion. But because everyone does it, we don’t think about it. On the flip side, no one adopted the metric calendar and there’s never been an attempt to meaningfully move away from the mixed base time system.
I believe the USA had a vote in 1975 to switch to metric and failed.
Are you talking about the Metric Conversion Act of 1975? That passed.