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Decimal time (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 5 days ago by FundMECFS@quokk.au to c/wikipedia@lemmy.world

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[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Initially the traditional second of time equal to 1/86400 day was proposed as the base of the metric system, but this was changed in 1791 to base the meter on a decimal division of a measurement of the Earth, instead.

Mind blown. It's true, you have to start with something.

[–] silverchase@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The quest to fully define the SI units with total precision has been a centuries-long one. It was only a few years ago that the kilogram was finally redefined using universal constants instead of being defined by a physical ball!

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Yep. The master-kilo that lived in a dusty Parisian cabinet, I love that anecdote.