history:h_meas1
History of Measurements
Distance:
bronze & early iron ages:
measurements used:
cubit:
Egyptian = 20.6 +/- 0.19in = 524 +/- 5mm (divided into palms & digits)
Jewish = 17.5in = 447mm
Assyrian = 21.5in = 546mm (divided into 2 feet, each being 3 palms long, each palm being 20 susi)
Turkey/Persian = 26.6 +/- 0.19in = 676 +/- 5mm (in use until 19thC AD!)
ancient Greeks:
Roman empire:
8thC AD - Charlemagne in France:
1305AD Edward I in England:
1497AD Henry VII in England:
1742AD Royal Society of London commissioned George Graham to produce a brass bar of the standard yard
1760AD royal commissioned yard-long bar which was accepted in British parliament in 1824 but destroyed in 1834 when the parliament building was burnt down.
French introduce the metric system which was accepted in French law in 1795
British imperial measures legalised in 1855 and remained until superceded by the metric system.
history/h_meas1.txt · Last modified: 2013/01/14 21:23 by gary1