Entertaining history of measurement measures, or what growth of an inch

From ancient times to the 19th century, the same unit of dimension could have different values ​​not only in different countries, but also in different cities of the same country! So, in Austria in the 15th century almost every city and even in every significant market there were measures. In Germany, attempts to streamline the system of measures began in the early Middle Ages, but they did not lead to anything until the end of the 19th century. In France in the XIV century, an attempt to introduce the same measures throughout the state failed due to the resistance of the sovereign princes and bishops. Neither Louis XI in the XV century, nor Louis XVI at the end of the XVIII century, could also bring measures to uniformity ... Only in 1875 in Paris, an international agreement was finally signed - the Metric Convention to ensure international unity of measurements and improve the metric system of measures .
Sometimes, reading books or articles on the Internet, we encounter units of measurement of different countries and times incomprehensible to us. Inquisitives immediately have questions: Pirate drank a pint of beer - how many in liters? Thumbelina received a name from the word "inch", so what kind of height was this fabulous baby? Snow man - Bigfath received the name for a huge size of the leg, and what is it, a simple foot? How does the sea mile differ from the land? How much is it - a slanting fathom in the shoulders? How does it differ from Makhova’s fathom? To eat a pood of salt is how much? And a bunch of other questions about measuring measures to which you will find answers in this book