History
The fluid ounce was originally the volume occupied by one ounce of some substance such as wine (in England) or water (in Scotland). The ounce in question varied depending on the system of fluid measure, such as that used for wine versus ale. Various ounces were used over the centuries, including the Tower ounce, troy ounce, ounce avoirdupois, and various ounces used in international trade such as Paris troy. The situation is further complicated by the medieval practice of "allowances" whereby a unit of measure was not necessarily equal to the sum of its parts. For example, the 364-pound woolsack had a 14-pound allowance for the weight of the sack and other packaging materials.
In 1824, the British Parliament defined the imperial gallon as the volume of ten avoirdupois pounds of water. The gallon was divided into four quarts or eight pints. Each pint was divided into four gills or twenty fluid ounces, that is, five ounces for each gill. Thus, the mass of an imperial fluid ounce of water is one avoirdupois ounce (28.4 g). The US fluid ounce is based on the US gallon, which is based on the wine gallon, used in England prior to 1824.
Read more about this topic: Fluid Ounce
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it.”
—Lytton Strachey (1880–1932)
“In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)