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Metrication in the United States (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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, and he died in captivity on Montserrat.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It pleases me that the foot and pound are officially just metric derivatives. I wish we used metric here, but as others have said I don't think it's going to happen. I have a machine shop full of US standard metrology equipment and it would be ruinously expensive for me to replace it with metric stuff. At least precision machining doesn't use fractions for the most part which is nice. Everything is in inches or tenths, hundredths, or thousandths (aka "thou") of an inch.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

If there was ever a switch it wouldn't need to be switch out all at once it would just be newer equipment would slowly be rolled in. It wouldn't be like Canada where we use mix of imperial and metic.