After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, British scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the British, in the weeks that followed, an American archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet and, shortly after, this item appeared in the New York Times: "American archaeologists, finding traces of 250 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the British".

One week later, the Northern Territory Times reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 feet in his backyard in Tennant Creek, Knackers Johnson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely bugger all, therefore concluding that 250 years ago, Australia had already gone wireless".

Good one!
Fred.

I am sorry GTC but this is incorrect. Britain and America are both on the imperial measurements and Australia is Metric so if he dug down 30 feet he would have missed it.

For the record, that joke dates to pre-metric days.

Britain and America are both on the imperial measurements

These days Britain is metric for everything except for journey distances and vehicle speeds where they still refer to miles, and a few other odd things. If the Brits dig to depths, they now do so in metres.

Brits were forced to adopt metric when they naively joined the EEC, that'll teach 'em

Yes well the US is pretty much the only country that still uses Imperial Measurement.

As an engineer I'm very happy that we left that mess behind on the 14th of February 1966!

One of my grandkids once asked "What's an Inch, Grandpa?"

"25.4 millimetres" I replied.

"Why?"

"Exactly!" I said.

Yes indeed Ian.

Decimal was a big factor in 'getting me over the line' during my final exams as an apprentice Radio Mechanic.

If Imperial measurements were still in I would not have made it.

I've never been much of a fan of anything French, including their antiques, preferring Victorian era British stuff but I will give the French this - the metric system is far easier to understand. Having everything in groups of 10 instead of 12 and 14 is far more logical, though a little leeway must be given to the imperial system, as it goes back a long way in time, with some units of measure named after both natural and man-made forms such as stones and chains, indicating the origins of those particular units of measure.

The other good thing about metric is how everything can be tied together and easily remembered. EG: 1 litre of water at sea level weighs exactly 1 kilogram if the temperature of the water is 20 degrees. If you climb Mt Everest, the same volume of water will weigh slightly less though.

The Brussels' Eurocrats better not try and tell yanks and aussies what to do: like adopting 24-hr clock format: have you seen all those 24-hr digital clocks around London, ridiculous! And when you drive into their country, those Euro speed signs with the garish red circle - this was too much for Canada who retained the more visually-pleasing traditional speed limit signage!

The Brits finally halted this nonsense with the Brexit referendum

Speaking of referenda, be sure to vote this mid month, don't let the progressives push you around: remember it was a 'progressive', Gough "coughdrop" Whitlam, who forced metric down our throats

I dunno about that one. I've never been a fan of Gough but Australia signed the metric convention in 1947 under Ben Chifley, adopted decimal currency in 1966 and officially adopted the metric measures in 1971. Whitlam won his first election in 1972, 67 seats to 58 (things were simpler then, no independents or minor parties). Whitlam can evade blame for that one.

I too support the use of Metric. Those awful illogical imperial measurements were too difficult for a schoolboy to grasp. Anyone remember what poles, rods, perches, chains, links, BTU, PSI, HP did, or how many of one fitted into another? Not me, and I'm more than happy that all that nonsense has been consigned to the dumpster.

I also support the speed signs within a red circle. The old ones with black writing on a white background were too easily lost in the surrounding visual clutter. Definitely safer now.

As far as I'm aware, the only countries still hanging on to imperial are America and Burma.

I'm also a (long-term) supporter of one language (English of course) for the whole world.

I don't know anything about other countries using 24-hour clocks, but I'm used to it as I worked in a transport industry where 24-hours is pretty much standard. All my computers display 24-hour time.

"------where 24-hours is pretty much standard."

Add Radio and TV Broadcast Studios, Hospitals & Ambulance, Police, Customs, Fire Brigades, Military, Air and Maritime Services, Satellite Control Centres, Weather Service Centres, and the list goes on.

Plus UTC, essentially in 24 Hour mode, linking worldwide scientific research to a common point in time. No misunderstandings possible.

I would guess 24 Hour system is probably the standard.

Yes, good riddance to fractional measurements in 8ths, 16ths, 32nd and 64ths.

Some Americans like to pretend that they don't understand metric, however anything they own that was made outside the USA is metric.

To mention just two instances: American mechanics have both AF and metric tools and technicians also need metric tools.

A perfect and timely example of the UTC 24 Hour system.

Note the time on the upper RHS. Also note numerous time zones crossed during the event.

https://www.spaceweather.com/images2023/11oct23/newanim.gif