Initially the traditional second of time equal to 1/86400 day was proposed as the base of the metric system, but this was changed in 1791 to base the meter on a decimal division of a measurement of the Earth, instead.
Mind blown. It's true, you have to start with something.
The quest to fully define the SI units with total precision has been a centuries-long one. It was only a few years ago that the kilogram was finally redefined using universal constants instead of being defined by a physical ball!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatch_Internet_Time
Swatch Internet Time is my favorite implementation of decimal time!
Mind blown. It's true, you have to start with something.
The quest to fully define the SI units with total precision has been a centuries-long one. It was only a few years ago that the kilogram was finally redefined using universal constants instead of being defined by a physical ball!
Yep. The master-kilo that lived in a dusty Parisian cabinet, I love that anecdote.
Might be useful once we metricate Earth's rotation and orbit