this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2025
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[–] PhAzE@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'd say it kind of does actually:

The Kilometer is defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's North Pole to the equator along the meridian passing through Paris.

Vs

The mile originated with the Roman measurement of mille passus, meaning "one thousand paces," with a pace being five Roman feet. The modern 5,280-foot statute mile evolved in England, where the 1592 parliamentary act defined the mile as eight furlongs (660 feet each) to standardize the distance.

One is measured by earth, the other by stinky feet.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Yeah but earth is wobbly and imprecise so now we define the meter as "the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458th of a second"

[–] angrystego@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

That'a a cool definition. I wouldn't call it an origin though, that would still be the Earth measurement through Paris, which is also cool.

[–] groet@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's North Pole to the equator

On ten-thousandth. The circumference through the poles is ~40,000km

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

over land or straight line?