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The kilometre (SI symbol: km; / ˈ k ɪ l ə m iː t ər / or / k ɪ ˈ l ɒ m ə t ər /), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo-being the SI prefix for 1000).
Units in everyday use by country as of 2019 The history of the metric system began during the Age of Enlightenment with measures of length and weight derived from nature, along with their decimal multiples and fractions. The system became the standard of France and Europe within half a century. Other measures with unity ratios [Note 1] were added, and the system went on to be adopted across ...
It was invented in France for industrial use and from 1933 to 1955 was used both in France and in the Soviet Union. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] Gravitational metric systems use the kilogram-force (kilopond) as a base unit of force, with mass measured in a unit known as the hyl , Technische Masseneinheit (TME), mug or metric slug . [ 41 ]
The association of the yard with the "gird" or circumference of a person's waist or with the distance from the tip of the nose to the end of the thumb of King Henry I (reigned 1100–1135) are probably standardizing actions, since several yards were in use in Britain. There were also the rod, pole, perch and thumb for measurements of length.
Littlehales noted in 1909: "The lunar-distance tables were omitted from the Connaissance des Temps for the year 1905, after having retained their place in the French official ephemeris for 131 years; and from the British Nautical Almanac for 1907, after having been presented annually since the year 1767, when Maskelyne's tables were published."
An early definition of the metre was one ten-millionth of the Earth quadrant, the distance from the North Pole to the Equator, measured along a meridian through Paris.. The history of the metre starts with the Scientific Revolution that is considered to have begun with Nicolaus Copernicus's publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543.
In formal situations (such as official road signs) only kilometres are given. The Swedish mile was standardised as 36,000 Swedish feet or 10.6884 kilometres (6.6415 miles) in 1649; before that it varied by province from about 6 to 14.485 km. [43] Before metrication, the Norwegian mile was 11.298 kilometres (7.020 miles).
The odometer was also independently invented in ancient China, [3] possibly by the prolific inventor and early scientist Zhang Heng (78 AD – 139 AD) of the Han dynasty. By the 3rd century (during the Three Kingdoms Period), the Chinese had termed the device as the 'jì lĭ gŭ chē' (記里鼓車), or ' li -recording drum carriage' (Note: the ...