Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
1 inch now equals exactly 2.54 centimeters. I don't know who lost or gained when the powers that be decided to make that the standard.
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'Now'? Well, yes, it is true that currently 1 inch is exactly 2.54 centimetres. But using 'now' is a little misleading. It's not a recent change. It was in 1959 that the international yard (and so the international inch) were defined in terms of the metre, and the international inch replaced the Imperial inch (which was slightly shorter than the international inch) and the US inch (which was slightly longer than the international inch). But the 25.4mm inch was used from at least 1930 when the British Standards Institute adopted it, and this 25.4mm 'industrial inch' was widely used by the mid-1930s.
What? You didn't know that the Imperial inch and the US inch were different? Next you'll be saying you didn't know that the Imperial fluid ounce and the US fluid ounce are different!
Metrology - it matters.