Metric Progress

Archive Report

Converting to the Metric System

Slow Pace of Changeover in United States

The metrication of america officially is under way. But progress toward changing from yards and pounds to meters and liters has been slow and sporadic. President Ford signed the Metric Conversion Act on Dec. 23, 1975. That legislation declared conversion to the metric system a national policy and authorized creation of a 17-member U.S. Metric Board to coordinate and plan the changeover. In the 15 months since the Metric Conversion Act was made law, the U.S. Metric Board has yet to be set up. Progress toward conversion from the traditional British system of weights and measures to the metric system has been undertaken primarily by the major American corporations—with minimal help from the federal ...

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