New decimal standard of weight for grains comes into effect in the Liverpool Corn Exchange

For decades, there had been no uniform measurement for grains, in the United States or elsewhere. The bushel measurement varied widely according to the type of grain, for example. In an attempt to impose regularity the Liverpool Corn Exchange announced that it would deal in imported grains on a decimal system of one hundred pounds per unit, rather than the bushel. This "cental" experiment lasted in Liverpool only until the following November when the order was rescinded and the Anglo-Saxon bushel returned alongside the new unit. Further discussion, argument, and experimentation became entangled in the resistance to the decimal system in general in the United States and continues to this day. (By John Osborne)