Film Formats And Sizes

A millimeter is a unit of length equal to one thousandth of a meter, or 0.0394 inch.

Length, can be measured in various ways: feet, inches, miles, spans, cubits, hands, furlongs, palms, rods, chains, leagues and more. By far, it seems to us, the metric system has to be the easiest method of measurement. No half inches or sixteenths of an inch or sixty-fourths of an inch. Just simple metrics. How this was never officially adopted as the standard for US measurement we don't know. I seem to remember back in the sixties or seventies that the Congress was considering switching to metrics and I was hoping that they wouldn't. Didn't want to have something new to learn. What a mistake that was.

The metric system of measurement was developed by the French during the French Revolution and, in the United States, it was first championed in the United States by Thomas Jefferson. Its use was officially legalized in the U.S. in 1866. Proposed congressional legislation requiring the U.S. Government to use the metric system exclusively was defeated by a single vote in 1902. Today, the United States is among the few nations that does not use metrics. It seems like we should have switched to metrics long ago since many of the things we buy are measured in metrics. Sometimes the US system of measurement can make your head spin. For instance, both liquid and dry measurement uses quarts and pints. You can also have an ounce for weight and an ounce for liquid capacity. There are also different systems of weights: avoirdupois, troy, and apothecaries.