Storiascopio · Era 10 of 12 · lower secondary year 2
The metric system
1795 · Paris, France
In short
Before the Revolution, every region of France had its own measures, and a pound or a foot changed from one town to another. Scientists proposed a system that was the same for everyone, based on multiples of ten. The metre was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator, and two astronomers spent years measuring the meridian between Dunkirk and Barcelona. A law of 1795 introduced the metre, the litre and the gram.
Why it matters Today almost the whole world measures with the same system, and science and trade understand each other more easily.
Source: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), history of the International System of Units
Where we are in the era “Age of revolutions”
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1712Event 8 of 251895
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/the-metric-system/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class