When did Germany adopt km?

[anonymous-user]

Did they ever use imperial measurements like us (miles, mph, yds etc) or has it always been km, m etc?

The reason i ask, is that I have a supposed "Genuine 1960's map of the Nurburgring framed on my living room wall, and it's only just occured to me that the distance markers are in km

Can this really be from the 60's?

[mybrainhurts]

Oh, yes....

[vixpy1]

mybrainhurts said:

Oh, yes....

please?

[Eric Mc]

Germany was definitely metric before World War 2. If you ever see any wartime German signage or instruments you will see they are all calibrated in metric measures.

[Jaglover]

At a guess they have been metric since the Napoleonic wars.

[anonymous-user]

cheers guys, there was me thinking that km was a modern newfangled way of measuring distances

[8Pack]

(rummages around in bag of little known and useless facts) Ah! here it is.....IIRC, the French took a line North - South through Paris between the equator and the North Pole, divided it by 10,000.....the result was 1km

I don't have a date for this in my bag though, probably around the time they and us were vying for "Top Nation". Eventually of course Greenwich became the meridian and the Paris line was forgotten.......only the Km remained.

[mybrainhurts]

vixpy1 said:

mybrainhurts said: Oh, yes.... please?

Sorry.....yes, please

[mybrainhurts]

Hey, ho....

The Metric System was devised by French scientists in the late 18th century......

Currently a metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.....

Any more questions....?

[8Pack]

mybrainhurts said:

Hey, ho.... The Metric System was devised by French scientists in the late 18th century...... Currently a metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second..... Any more questions....?

I...Knew...that!

Incidently, did you know that a radio wave slows to around 297,000,000 m/sec when it enters the coax cable?..

[jimothy]

8Pack said:

mybrainhurts said: Hey, ho.... The Metric System was devised by French scientists in the late 18th century...... Currently a metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second..... Any more questions....? I...Knew...that! Incidently, did you know that a radio wave slows to around 297,000,000 m/sec when it enters the coax cable?..

Whats that rubidium (or whatever it was) gas that slows light down to walking pace?

[batbuilder92]

From my fading memory Germany changed to metric in the 1890s.I remember this from "antiques roadshow".

Before that as they imported a lot of technology from England everything was imperial.

Incidentally the first steam locomotive in Germany was made in Darlington.

[simpo two]

mybrainhurts said:

Currently a metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.....

I find a tape measure more convenient, at least for DIY projects where space is at a premium.

[scorp]

8Pack said:

(rummages around in bag of little known and useless facts) Ah! here it is.....IIRC, the French took a line North - South through Paris between the equator and the North Pole, divided it by 10,000.....the result was 1km I don't have a date for this in my bag though, probably around the time they and us were vying for "Top Nation". Eventually of course Greenwich became the meridian and the Paris line was forgotten.......only the Km remained.

Uh? I thought the KM was simply 1,000 metres, so logic dictates you only need to know how long a metre is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre

>> Edited by scorp on Tuesday 25th October 10:47

[blueyes]

mybrainhurts said:

Currently a metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second..... Any more questions....?

Yup, is that any vacuum, or is it just see through Dysons?

[esselte]

mybrainhurts said:

Hey, ho.... Any more questions....?

Yeah...what ever happened to Gerry and the Pacemakers?

[mybrainhurts]

batbuilder92 said:

From my fading memory Germany changed to metric in the 1890s......

Blimey....thought I was the oldest fart on here...

Keep taking the injections......

[mybrainhurts]

8Pack said:

mybrainhurts said: Hey, ho.... The Metric System was devised by French scientists in the late 18th century...... Currently a metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second..... Any more questions....? I...Knew...that! Incidently, did you know that a radio wave slows to around 297,000,000 m/sec when it enters the coax cable?..

Suppose Brunstrom was responsible for that.....

[2 Smokin Barrels]

So then:

Why is it engine capacities have nearly always been quoted in cc (in UK), even in the days when everything else was imperial?

[mybrainhurts]

I blame global warming....