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A vara (meaning "rod" or "pole", abbreviation: var) is an old Spanish unit of length. Varas are a surveying unit that appear in many deeds in the southern United States due to them previously being part of Mexico, they became part of the United States due to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Varas were also used in many parts of Latin America ...
The United States and the Metric System (LC 1136) nist.gov Archive.org; The Metric System in the United States Archived June 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine; A Metric America: A Decision Whose Time Has Come on nist.gov Archive.org; Metric Conversion Act of 1975 on nist.gov Archive.org; www.us-metric.org—U.S. Metric Association (mirror link)
The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by U.S. President Gerald Ford on December 23, 1975. [1] It declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", but permitted the use of United States customary units in all activities.
United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories [1] since being standardized and adopted in 1832. [2] The United States customary system developed from English units that were in use in the British Empire before the U.S. became an independent country.
Over time, the metric system has influenced the United States through international trade and standardisation. The use of the metric system was made legal as a system of measurement in 1866 [165] and the United States was a founding member of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in 1875. [166]
Some United States customary units are also used in Guatemala. These include gallons inches, feet, miles, pounds (note the Spanish pound is also used) and ounces. [2] Gasoline and diesel fuel are sold by the US gallon. Some food items such as meat, sugar and coffee are sold by the pound. [4]
Conversion of a country from non-metric units to metric units; see "Metrication Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Metric conversion .
The US Customary system of units was developed and used in the United States after the American Revolution, based on a subset of the English units used in the Thirteen Colonies; it is the predominant system of units in the United States and in U.S. territories (except for Puerto Rico and Guam, where the metric system, which was introduced when ...