The pirate attack on metric standards
The Industrial Revolution lock-in
The great metric rebellion of the 1970s
The hidden metric reality of modern America
hank In 1794, French scientist Joseph Dombey set sail for America carrying the world's first official metric standards to present to Thomas Jefferson.
Who replaced Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State before another French metric emissary could arrive?
hank Pirates Stop Metric System US
Old Joseph Dombey sailed from France, with metric standards so new. But Caribbean pirates attacked, so we still measure feet with you!
hank A massive storm blew Dombey's ship off course into the Caribbean, where British-backed privateers captured him and stole the metric standards.
What was the name of the French scientist captured by pirates while carrying the metric prototypes?
The missing weight: The copper kilogram stolen by pirates in 1794 eventually ended up with an American surveyor and is now owned by the US government.
On which Caribbean island did the captured French scientist Joseph Dombey die in captivity?
An armed private ship or its commander licensed by a government to attack and plunder enemy vessels. In 1794, British privateers captured a French vessel carrying the early metric standards meant for Thomas Jefferson.