Why a Pint is Bigger in the UK than in the US
An American walks into a pub in London and orders a pint. It looks similar, but, given the amount of the golden-brown, oddly warm liquid…
US Customary System Conversions
Two systems of weights and measures are derived from English Units: the US Customary System and the British Imperial System. Neither is dominant worldwide, but…
US Customary System: An Origin Story
The United States’ uniqueness is reflected in omnifarious facets of life. Just look at units of measurement. While most nations use the metric system, the…
Standard Paper Sizes – ISO and ANSI Formats
Most people are unlikely to contemplate the systems in place that prevent a jagged stack of paper of varying lengths and sizes. Certainly, since the…
The Golden Ratio: A Standard of Art, Nature, and Space-Time
The theme of World Standards Day 2016 (which is to occur on October 14, 2016) is “Standards build trust”. To represent this visually, the poster…
History of the Standard Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian calendar has become the standard for measuring the progression of time since Pope Gregory XIII first introduced it in the year 1582. His papal influence…
Standardization of Units of Measurement
Currently, two different systems of measurement have been widely standardized: the Imperial System and the Metric System. The universality of these two systems has been…