In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate authorizes use of the metric system in government departments.

The new metric system of uniform weights and measures had been adopted as mandatory in France in 1840 and then taken up across much of Europe in the following decades.  The U.S. Senate took the final action on legislation that would permit the United States Post Office and all other federal departments to use the metric system for measurements when needed, especially with interactions with foreign organizations.  The measure did not disturb the current old British system then in use, nor did it make the use of the new system obligatory.  (By John Osborne)