Why won’t the United States adopt the metric system?

Why won’t the United States adopt the metric system?
Why won’t the United States adopt the metric system?

Why won’t the United States adopt the metric system?

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Just about every country in the world, apart from the U.S., Liberia and Myanmar, measures temperature in Celcius rather than Fahrenheit and measures length in centimeters and meters rather than inches. The Metric Act of 1866 legalized the use of the Metric System in the U.S. but, unlike most other countries, the U.S. never went to a mandatory system using Metric. We came close in the 1970’s but the legislation didn’t go through. Still, industries and consumers in the United States are actually using it all the time. Elizabeth Gentry is the Metric coordinator at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Her office helps facilitate the use of the Metric System of measurement, known today as SI. She explains how it all works. PHOTO: (BIKING NIKON SFO/Flickr)