🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <bb59ddf48%dickon-news@splurge.fluff.org> Dickon Hood
       <dickon-news@fluff.org> wrote:
> In message <ant051224868ew4o@gromit.tquest.org.uk> Barry Wickett
      <Barry@tquest.org.uk> wrote:

>> Nobody uses the old UK version of billion anymore except the 
>> pedants in this newsgroup.
I never remember which is which but assume the 'old' UK version 
(prior to about 1960) was 10^9? It still is in USA, Italy.

> And elsewhere.

Ok, to be precise rather than pedantic. I checked with a few
'old' dictionaries. Dates in brackets below.

Prior to the introduction of the SI (Syst�me International), a 
number of countries used the (N-1) rule in their systems of
numeration, others used the (N) rule.

(N) rule is used in Germany, UK, France and other countries:

Billion: 10^12
In the UK system (1960) - German (1940) - Dutch (1942) - 
French from 3 May 1961.
                   
(N-1) rule, or the Latin rule, used still in USA, Italy and other
countries.

Billion: 10^9  
In the French system (1939) till 3 May 1961 - Italian (1960) -
American system. However, the Dutch\English dictionary (1940)
gives English billion as 10^12.

Enc.Brit. 1977.
.... US congress passed legislation in ... 1968 that the USA change 
to the SI System of Units over a period of 10 years, at the end of
which the nation will be predominantly metric. 
          ^^^^^^
I.e. America is going metric, inch by inch  ;^)
�
* An off-topic a day, makes the netcops go 'Hey!'

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Uploaded to news.dial.pipex.com on Tue,09 Mar 1999.01:00:16