FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2021-234 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (December 10, 2021) – In Issue 2021-234 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, we meet the metric system.

CENTIMETERS, GRAMS, AND LITERS

Although France became the first country to adopt the metric system in 1795, until a multinational conference set the standards for measurement on this date in 1799, the system could not be put into use. 

The metric system was designed to replace the many and varying individual ways that countries measured distance, weight, and volume, so that world trade would be more equitable.

  • The meter was determined to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator along the meridian running near Dunkirk, France and Barcelona, Spain.
  • A gram measures the mass of one cubic centimeter of water.
  • A liter is the volume of a cubic decimeter.

The original standard for a meter, and the one from which all others are measured and made, is scratched on a platinum-iridium bar at the Bureau of Standards in Sevres, France.

France’s map is shown here from 1792 by Homann

Map of France – 1741 (Credit Steve Kovacs)

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon