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U.S. Metric Association
The US Metric Association (USMA), based in Windsor, Colorado, is a non-profit organization that advocates for total conversion of the United States to the International System of Units (SI). Founded on 27 December 1916 at Columbia University in New York City, it was originally called the American Metric Association. The USMA publishes a bi-monthly newsletter for its members on the state of the metric system in the United States: ''Metric Today''. Background The Metric Act of 1866 declared the metric system to be "lawful throughout the United States of America" and in all business dealings and court proceedings. At an international commercial congress the Treaty of the Meter, also known as the Metre Convention (''Convention du Mètre'') of 1875 was signed by 17 countries, including the US, making the metric system the international system of weights and measures. Note that this was a meeting of international states to facilitate commerce. This treaty, then, falls under the overv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metric System
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the International System of Units (SI) in the mid-20th century, under the oversight of an international standards body. Adopting the metric system is known as ''metrication''. The historical evolution of metric systems has resulted in the recognition of several principles. Each of the fundamental dimensions of nature is expressed by a single base unit (measurement), base unit of measure. The definition of base units has increasingly been realisation (metrology), realised from natural principles, rather than by copies of physical artefacts. For quantities derived from the fundamental base units of the system, units SI derived unit, derived from the base units are used—e.g., the square metre is the derived unit for area, a qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metric Act Of 1866
The Metric Act of 1866, also known as the Kasson Act, is a piece of United States legislation that legally protected use of the metric system in commerce from lawsuit, and provided an official conversion table from U.S. customary units. History Congressman John A. Kasson from Iowa, then Chairman of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, proposed the act in his report of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures: The metric system is already used in some arts and trades in this country, and is especially adapted to the wants of others. Some of its measures are already manufactured at Bangor, in Maine, to meet an existing demand at home and abroad. The manufacturers of the well-known Fairbanks scales state: “For many years we have had a large export demand for our scales with French weights, and the demand and sale is constantly increasing.” Its minute and exact divisions specially adapt it to the use of chemists, aphothecaries, the finer operations of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metrication In New Zealand
New Zealand started metrication in 1969 with the establishment of the Metric Advisory Board (MAB) and completed metrication on 14 December 1976. Until the 1970s, New Zealand traditionally used the imperial system for measurement, which it had inherited from the United Kingdom. Strategy toward metrication The New Zealand metric symbol was introduced in March 1971. To give metrication a human face, a baby girl whose parents agreed to co-operate was nicknamed Miss Metric. News and pictures of her progress were intermingled with press releases about the progress of metrication. By the end of 1972 the temperature scale, road signs, and measures used in the sale of such items as wool and milk had been metricated. Only a few letters voiced outright opposition to the changeover. Exceptions Although New Zealand completed metrication in the 1970s, a 1992 study of university students found that at that time there was a continued use of imperial units for birth weight and human height along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Metric Board
The United States Metric Board (USMB) was a United States government agency set up to encourage metrication. The United States Metric Board was commissioned by the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 205d, enacted on December 23, 1975). The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 mandated the presidential appointment of seventeen members for the "independent instrumentality". The board was composed of one member from the following agencies and/or related communities: engineers, scientists, the National Association of Manufacturers, the United States Chamber of Commerce, National Governors Conference, construction, National Conference on Weights and Measures, education, two members each from the AFL–CIO and small business, and four at-large members "to represent consumers", for a total of seventeen members in all. The metrification assessment board existed from 1975 to 1982, ending when President Ronald Reagan abolished it, largely on the suggestion of Frank Mankiewicz and Lyn Nofzi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Metric Association
The UK Metric Association, or UKMA, is an advocacy group in the United Kingdom that argues for metrication in the United Kingdom and advocates the use of the metric system among the general public in the UK. UKMA argues that the continued use of two incompatible systems of measurement causes misunderstanding, confusion and mistakes, undermines consumer protection, wastes time during children's education, results in additional costs, and is against the national interest. History UKMA was founded by Chris Keenan in 1999 and formally associated in 2002 as an independent, non-party political, single-issue organisation. Later, an e-mail forum was started for supporters of metrication. In 2005, a website called ThinkMetric to help and encourage the general public to think in metric units was launched. In 2006, a blog called MetricViews was launched. The current chair of UKMA is Peter Burke, and the secretary is Ronnie Cohen. its patrons are Gavin Esler, Jim Al-Khalili, and Lord Tave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metric Martyrs
The Metric Martyrs was a British advocacy group who campaigned for the freedom to choose what units of measurement are used by traders. The group believed that vendors should have the freedom to mark their goods with imperial weights and measurements alone. This opposes the current legal position that imperial units may be used so long as metric units are also displayed. The advocacy group was formed by individuals who had been accused of offences related to selling loose produce using imperial measures, including not displaying metric signage, and for using unstamped weighing machines (which had had their stamps removed by the authorities). Newspapers dubbed the group the "metric martyrs" after Chris Howell, then weights and measures spokesman for the Institute of Trading Standards Administration (today the Trading Standards Institute), said that they could martyr themselves if they wanted to. Legal cases In 2001 Steve Thoburn, the main defendant in the original case,. was conv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Conference On Weights And Measures
The National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to developing the United States technical standards for weights and measures in commerce. The organization's official mission is "Ensuring Equity and Uniform Standards in a Changing Marketplace. History The first Weights and Measures Law was signed on March 2, 1799 by John Adams. NCWM found its beginnings when a meeting of the states was held in 1905 to discuss challenges faced in regulating weights and measures. The outcome was an agreement to meet again the next year and the association took form in an effort to bring stakeholders together to set national standards for voluntary adoption and implementation by the states. Annual meetings have been held every year with the exception of 1909, 1917, 1918, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1948. From 1905 to 1957, the Director of the National Bureau of Standards served as Chairman of NCWM. Since 1958, NCWM members have el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fair Packaging And Labeling Act
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act is a U.S. law that applies to labels on many consumer products. It requires the label to state: *The identity of the product; *The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; and *The net quantity of contents. The contents statement must include both metric and U.S. customary units. Passed under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, the law first took effect on July 1, 1967. The metric labeling requirement was added in 1992 and took effect on February 14, 1994. The law is codified as . There has been an effort by industry threatened by a European Union directive that would force metric-only labeling starting January 1, 2010, to amend the FPLA to allow manufacturers to use metric-only labeling. An amendment to delay indefinitely metric-only labeling was adopted by the European Commission September 10, 2007, approved by the European Parliament November 29, 2007, and by the European Economic and Social Committee December 12, 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operations center in Piscataway, New Jersey. The mission of the IEEE is ''advancing technology for the benefit of humanity''. The IEEE was formed from the amalgamation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1963. Due to its expansion of scope into so many related fields, it is simply referred to by the letters I-E-E-E (pronounced I-triple-E), except on legal business documents. , it is the world's largest association of technical professionals with more than 423,000 members in over 160 countries around the world. Its objectives are the educational and technical advancement of electrical and electronic engineering, telecommunications, computer engineering and similar disciplines. History Origins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omnibus Foreign Trade And Competitiveness Act
The Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 is an act passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. History During the 1970s, the U.S. trade surplus slowly diminished and turned into an increasing deficit. As the deficit increased through the 1980s, some of the blame fell on the tariffs placed on US products by foreign countries, and the lack of similar tariffs on imports into the United States. Workers, unions and industry management all called for government action against countries with an unfair advantage. The Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act started as an amendment proposed by Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) to order the Executive branch to thoroughly examine trade with countries that have large trade surpluses with the United States. If the trade surpluses continued, the offending country would be faced with a bilateral surplus-reduction requirement of 10%. Because of its style of zero-sum game thought, it is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metric Conversion Act
The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 is an Act of Congress that U.S. President Gerald Ford signed into law on December 23, 1975. 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. As Ford's statement on the signing of the act emphasizes, all conversion was to be "completely voluntary". The Act also established the United States Metric Board with representatives from scientific, technical, and educational institutions, as well as state and local governments to plan, coordinate, and educate the U.S. people for the Metrication of the United States. The Metric Board was abolished in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan, largely on the suggestion of Frank Mankiewicz and Lyn Nofziger. Executive Order 12770, signed by President George H. W. Bush on July 25, 1991, citing the Metric Conversion Act, directed departments and agencies within the executive branch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mendenhall Order
The Mendenhall Order marked a decision to change the fundamental standards of length and mass of the United States from the customary standards based on those of England to metric standards. It was issued on April 5, 1893, by Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, John Griffin Carlisle. The order was issued as the Survey's ''Bulletin No. 26 – Fundamental Standards of Length and Mass''. Standards before the order In October 1834, the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament were destroyed in a fire, and the British standards of length and mass were also destroyed. "When the new imperial standards to replace them were completed in 1855, two copies of the yard and one copy of the avoirdupois pound were presented to the United States". These were superior to the yard then in use, so one of them was adopted as the United States national standard yard. These yards were taken to Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
