Did Pirates Really Ruin the US Dream of the Metric System?

Ridiculous History

iHeartPodcasts

History, Society & Culture

4.3 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why is the United States so culturally opposed to the metric system? According to a popular legend, this conundrum dates back to the late 1700s, when a French polymath named Joseph Dombey sailed to Thomas Jefferson with two crucial artifacts: a rod measuring exactly one meter, and a copper cylinder weighing one kilogram, set to bring the new nation a system of rational measurement. As the story goes, British privateers waylaid Dombey. Stole his artifacts, unsuccessfully ransomed him, and the poor nerd died in captivity without ever meeting Jefferson. As a result, the US remains metric-shy in the modern day. However: this legend, based in fact, may not be the story entire. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the Ridiculous History of our country's long-standing aversion to a genuinely good idea.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ridiculous History is a production of IHeart Radio. Welcome back to the show.
0:27.9	Thank you, as always so much for tuning in.
0:32.3	Let's have an R-Mady for our super producer, Mr. Max Williams.
0:36.8	I-Hu.
0:37.2	I, aye. And R. How do you? I, aye.
0:38.2	And are.
0:39.1	Yeah, for sure.
0:40.6	You're Noel Brown.
0:42.0	I'm Ben Bowlin.
0:43.1	Noel, what would your pirate name be if you had to choose one?
0:47.0	Ooh.
0:48.3	Goodness, gracious.
0:49.4	Put me on the spot, why don't you?
0:52.0	I mean, I don't know.
0:52.9	Like Long John something, perhaps?
0:54.8	That's good.
0:55.5	I like that.
0:56.1	Long-John platinum.
0:58.7	Long-John Plus.
1:00.6	So I would probably get tagged with something like Ben the Red.
1:05.7	Yeah.
1:06.6	Yeah.
	...

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