MetricPioneer.com is dedicated to United States President Andrew Johnson and to Metric Pioneer Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794 CE) Father of Modern Chemistry, who helps construct the metric system during the French Revolution while working alongside Benjamin Franklin in France. The modern form of the metric system is known as SI = Système International d’unités = International System of Units. The metric system of measure was first given a legal basis in 1795 CE by the French Revolutionary government.

On 28 July, The Metric Act of 1866 becomes law and legalizes the use of the metric system for weights and measures in the United States. The Metric Act of 1866 was originally introduced as H.R. 596 in the 39th Congress. The House passes it on 17 May 1866 CE; the Senate passes it on 27 July 1866 CE; President Andrew Johnson signs The Metric Act the next day:

“It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system.”

The eleventh CGPM (Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures = General Conference on Weights and Measures) in 1960 faced the question of what to call this new reorganization and extension of measures. The name Metric System had referred to the units for length and mass. What the CGPM had created was much more comprehensive, and after some discussion, this new system was called the International System of units or SI after its French initials. For the first time, the world had not merely universal units, but a universal system of units.

See this article in The Atlantic – Why the Metric System Hasn’t Failed in the U.S. – And has an important place in the education system

Earth – A Metric Planet

It is with a flippant disregard for accuracy to proclaim that “Only three countries in the world do not use the Metric System!” or some similar statement. (First off, we have been calling it the International System since 1960; it is no longer called the metric system.) In reality, all people everywhere on Earth live in a place where the International System is legal and routinely used every day for many, many things. But not all governments have gotten rid of non-SI measures, which is a tremendous hindrance to many facets of life, including education and international trade.

That claim about “Only three countries . . . USA, Liberia and Burma . . . ” is off by a factor of ten! Actually, thirty places have not completed their metrication process; people in those thirty places still cling to non-SI units. Let us rubber-stamp those places as Incomplete.

This chart shows the thirty Incomplete places:

Click on the image of Earth here to see when metrication occurred in each country or territory on Earth:

Traveling? Planning to visit the Pacific Northwest? Want to stay in a metric-friendly place?

Consider this airbnb experience! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14773378