document_title: Metrication in the United Kingdom

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question_tokens: when did uk start selling petrol in litres

text: Metrication in the United Kingdom

text: History[edit]

text: Before 1799[edit]

text: When James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne in 1603, England and Scotland had different systems of measure. Superficially the English and the Scots units of measure were similar – many had the same names – but there were differences in their sizes: in particular the Scots pint and gallon were more than twice the size of their English counterparts.[3] In 1707, under the Act of Union, the Parliaments of England and Scotland were merged and the English units of measurement became the standard for the whole new Kingdom of Great Britain. The practical effect of this was that both systems were used in Scotland, and the Scottish measures remained in common use until the Weights and Measures Act 1824 outlawed them.[4]

text: This period marked the Age of Enlightenment, when people started using the power of reason to reform society and advance knowledge. Britons played their role in the realm of measurement, laying down practical and philosophical foundations for a decimal system of measurement which were ultimately to provide the building blocks of the metric system.

text: One of the earliest decimal measuring devices, developed in 1620 by the English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter, introduced two new units of measure— the chain and the link—and a new measuring device: Gunter's chain. Gunter's chain was one chain (one tenth of a furlong) in length and consisted of 100 links, making each link 0.001 furlongs. The decimal nature of these units and of the device made it easy to calculate the area of a rectangle of land in acres and decimal fractions of an acre.[5]

text: In 1670, John Wilkins, the first president of the Royal Society, published his proposal for a decimal system of measure, in his work An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language.[6][7] His proposal envisaged a system of units in which the base unit of length was defined by a pendulum that had a period of one second, and the base unit of mass was defined by a cube of rainwater having sides equal to the base unit of length. He recycled the existing names of units of measure, so that there were 10 lines in an inch, 10 inches in a foot, and so on. A century later, his concept of defining unit mass in terms of a cube of water with edges of unit length was one of the fundamental concepts of the metric system.[non-primary source needed]

text: Having difficulties in communicating with German scientists, the Scottish inventor James Watt, in 1783, called for the creation of a global decimal measurement system.[8] A letter of invitation, in 1790, from the French National Assembly to the British Parliament to help create such a system using the length of a pendulum as the base unit of length received the support of the British Parliament, championed by John Riggs Miller, but when the French overthrew their monarchy and decided to use the meridional definition of the metre as their base unit, Britain withdrew support.[9] The French continued alone and created the foundations of what is now called the Système International d'Unités and is the measurement system for most of the world.

text: In 1799, the French created, and started to use, a new system with the metre and the kilogram as the units of length and mass. As use of this new system, originally called the "Decimal System", spread through Europe, there were some calls in the United Kingdom for decimalisation.[citation needed] The issue of decimalisation of measurement was intertwined in the United Kingdom with decimalisation of currency. The idea was first discussed by a Royal Commission that reported in 1818,[10][not in citation given] and again in Parliament by Sir John Wrottesley in 1824. Another Royal Commission was set up 1838 by Chancellor of the Exchequer Thomas Spring Rice and it reported in 1841 that decimal coinage was required first. A third commission in 1853 advocated decimal coinage in the form £1 : 10 florins : 100 cents: 1000 mils. The first florins (one tenth of a pound sterling) were struck in 1849 as silver coins weighing 11.3 grams (0.40 ounces) and having a diameter of 28 millimetres (1.1 inches).[citation needed]

text: An early supporter of the Decimal Association was the mathematician Augustus de Morgan whose articles supporting the metric system had been published in the Penny Cyclopeadia (1833) and The Companion to the Almanac (1841).[11][not in citation given] A few days later Wrottesley met with Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, but was unable to win him over to the idea. The inherent problems associated with handling multiple currencies and systems of units encountered in the Great Exhibition of 1851 triggered calls for a standardisation of units across Europe with the metric system being suggested as the natural choice.[12] In 1854, de Morgan was influential in setting up the "Decimal Association" to lobby for decimalisation of both measurement and coinage.[13] In 1862, the Select Committee on Weights and Measures favoured the introduction of decimalisation to accompany the introduction of metric weights and measures. A further Royal Commission "on the question of the introduction of metric system of weights and measures" also reported in 1869[14]

text: In 1863, a bill which would have mandated the use of the metric system throughout the British Empire, and which had passed its first and second readings in the House of Commons, was rejected at its Commons Committee stage as impractical, and so did not pass into law.[15] The following year, after pressure from the astronomers George Airy and Sir John Herschel, the bill was watered down to merely legalise the use of the metric system in contracts. It was presented and passed as a Private Member's Bill.[16] Ambiguous wording in the 1864 Act meant that traders who possessed metric weights and measures were still liable to arrest under the Weights and Measures Act 1835 5° & 6° William IV. Cap. 63.[17]

text: While the politicians were discussing whether or not to adopt the metric system, British scientists were in the forefront in developing the system. In 1845, a paper by James Prescott Joule proved the equivalence of mechanical and thermal energy, a concept that is vital to the metric system – in SI, power is measured in watts and energy in joules regardless of whether it is mechanical, electrical or thermal.[18]

text: In 1861, a committee of the British Association for Advancement of Science (BAAS) including William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin), James Clerk Maxwell and Joule among its members was tasked with investigating the "Standards of Electrical Resistance". In their first report (1862), they laid the ground rules for their work – the metric system was to be used and measures of electrical energy must have the same units as measures of mechanical energy.[19] In the second report (1863), they introduced the concept of a coherent system of units whereby units of length, mass and time were identified as "fundamental units" (now known as base units).[20] All other units of measure could be derived (hence derived units) from these base units.[21][22]

text: In 1873, another committee of the BAAS that also counted Maxwell and Thomson among its members and was tasked with "the Selection and Nomenclature of Dynamical and Electrical Units". They recommended the CGS (centimetre-gram-second) system of units. The committee also recommended the names "dyne" and "erg" for the CGS units of force and energy.[22][23][24] The CGS system became the basis for scientific work for the next seventy years.

text: In 1875, a British delegation was one of twenty national delegations to a convention in Paris that resulted in seventeen of the nations signing the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875,[25] and the establishment of three bodies, the CGPM, CIPM and BIPM, that were charged with overseeing weights and measures on behalf of the international community. The United Kingdom was one of the countries that declined to sign the convention. In 1882 the British firm Johnson, Matthey & Co secured an agreement with the French government to supply 30 standard metres and 40 standard kilograms.[26] Two years later the United Kingdom signed the treaty and the following year it was found that the standard yard which had been in use since 1855 had been shrinking at the rate of one part per million every twenty years.[27] In 1889, one of the standard metres and one of the standard kilograms that had been cast by Johnson, Matthey & Co were selected at random as the reference standard and the other standards, having been cross-correlated with each other, were distributed to the signatory nations of the treaty.

text: In 1896, Parliament passed the Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act, legalising metric units for all purposes but not making them compulsory.[28]

text: The situation was clarified in 1897 following another Select Committee which also recommended that metrication become compulsory by 1899. In 1902, an Empire conference decided that metrication should be compulsory across the British Empire. In 1904, scientist Lord Kelvin led a campaign for metrication and collected 8 million signatures of British subjects. On the opposition side, 1904 saw the establishment of the British Weights and Measures Association for "the purpose of defending and, where practicable, improving the present system of weights and measures". At this time 45% of British exports were to metricated countries. Parliament voted to set up a Select Committee on the matter.[29]

text: This Select Committee reported in 1907 and a bill was drafted proposing compulsory metrication by 1910, including decimalisation of coinage.[29]

text: The matter was dropped in the face of wars and depression, and would not be again raised until the White Paper of 1951, the result of the Hodgson Committee Report of 1949 which unanimously recommended compulsory metrication and currency decimalisation within ten years.[30] The report said "The real problem facing Great Britain is not whether to adhere either to the Imperial or to the metric system, but whether to maintain two legal systems or to abolish the Imperial." The report also recommended that any change should be implemented in concert with the Commonwealth (former Empire) and the USA,[31] that the United Kingdom adopt a decimal currency and that the United Kingdom and United States harmonise their respective definitions of the yard using the metre as a reference. The Hodgson Report was originally rejected by British industry, but in 1959 the United Kingdom and United States redefined their respective yards to be 0.9144 m exactly.

text: The introduction of the metric system was a topic at the Fifth Commonwealth Standards Conference that was held in Sydney in 1962.[32] The following year a poll by the British Standards Institute (BSI) revealed that the majority of its members favoured a transition to the metric system and two years later (1965), after taking a poll of its members, the Confederation of British Industry informed the government that they favoured the adoption of the metric system, though some sectors emphasised the need for a voluntary system of adoption.[33][34]

text: In 1966 the Government announced the adoption in 1971 of a decimal currency.

text: 1965 onwards[edit]

text: In 1965, the then Federation of British Industry informed the British Government that its members favoured the adoption of the metric system. The Board of Trade, on behalf of the Government, agreed to support a ten-year metrication programme.[34] There would be minimal legislation as the programme was to be voluntary and costs were to be borne where they fell.[35]

text: Work on adapting specifications started almost as soon as the government first gave its approval in 1965. The BSI took the lead in coordinating the efforts of industry, and where appropriate working with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), CEE, CEN and CENELEC[36][37] while the Royal Society liaised with professional societies, schools and the like.[38] Initially the BSI targeted 1200 basic standards which were converted to metric units by 1970. Most of the remaining 4000 standards were converted in the ensuing five years.[39]

text: There were three principal ways in which metrication was implemented:

text:
Hard metrication which resulted in new products based on round metric quantities – for example A4 paper[b] replaced both foolscap and quarto paper and in rugby union 5, 10 and 22 metre lines replaced the 5, 10 and 25 yard lines respectively.[40] In many cases the new British Standards were based on existing foreign or international standards, for example ISO 216 (based on the German DIN standard DIN 476) which defined the "A series" of paper.[citation needed]
Soft metrication where existing standards were rewritten using metric units, but the underlying products remained unchanged: one typical example is that the standard rail gauge was changed from 4 ft 81⁄2 in to 1435 mm, a reduction of 0.1 mm, but well within the allowable tolerance of 5 mm.[citation needed] This approach was used where any radical changes would have been impractical.
Revision of measurement techniques were introduced in cases where the concepts behind the existing standard or practice were found to be archaic. One such revision was to define the strength of alcoholic drink as a percentage alcohol by volume rather than, in the case of whisky, in "degrees proof" (described by Lord Brown as being "based on a test that involves the burning of a given quantity of gunpowder").[39]

text: The Metrication Board[edit]

text: In July 1968, following the publication of a report from the Standing Joint Committee on Metrication, the government announced that an advisory metrication board would be set up as soon as possible, to oversee the metrication process, with a target completion date of the end of 1975. The report favoured the board being made up of part-time members drawn from commerce and industry, with government, education and consumer interests also being represented.[41] In December 1968 the government announced the set up of the Metrication Board to coordinate the metrication programme, with Lord Ritchie-Calder being appointed as chairman.[42] By this time much of the groundwork, especially rewriting of many British Standards using metric units, had been done and many of the industries that stood to benefit from metrication had already metricated, or had a metrication programme in progress.[39]

text: Policy review[edit]

text: The general election of 18 June 1970 resulted in a change of government and four months later, on 27 October 1970, following an anti-metrication motion being tabled calling on the new government not to continue with the previous government's metrication commitments, the government announced that a White Paper would be produced to examine the cost, savings, advantages and disadvantages of a change to the metric system.[43] During the debate when the announcement was made, Conservative MPs complained that metrication was being introduced by stealth.[44]

text: The White Paper was published in February 1972, and it set out the case for metrication and refuted the charge of metrication by stealth as metric units had been lawful for most purposes since 1897. It also reported that metrication would be necessary for the UK to join the European Common Market and that as British industry was exporting to all parts of the world they would benefit. It also reiterated the previous government's policy that metrication should be voluntary and hoped metrication would be mostly complete within ten years. The expectation was also expressed that with both the imperial and metric systems coexisting for many years, that consumers would gradually become familiar and comfortable with the metric system.[45]

text: Progress[edit]

text: Shortly after the publication of the White Paper, the Minister of Transport announced postponement of the metrication of speed limits, which had been scheduled for 1973.[46][47] The rest of the metrication programme continued, with the following completion dates:[48]

text:
1970 Electric Cable Makers Confederation, British Aerospace Companies Limited drawing and documentation, London Metal Exchange, flat glass
1971 Paper and board, National Coal Board designs, pharmaceuticals
1972 Paint industry, steel industry, building regulations
1974 Textile and wool transactions, leading clothing manufacturers adopt dual units
1975 Retail trade in fabrics and floor coverings, post office tariffs, medical practice
1976 Bulk sales of petroleum, agriculture and horticulture
1977 Livestock auctions
1978 Solid fuel retailing, cheese wholesaling, bread, London Commodity Market

text: Yet the target of completion by 1975 "in concert with the Commonwealth" was not achieved; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all completed their metrication processes by 1980.[49]

text: Engineering-related industries[edit]

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text: There was no single approach to the metrication of the engineering industry: in some areas soft metrication was applied and in others hard metrication. In certain branches metrication was achieved by adopting the equivalent European or international standard, but this was not always possible as certain standards, such as BS 1363 which defined electric plugs were peculiarly British while the petrochemical industry had standardised on API and ANSI standards.

text: An example of a hard metrication changeover was the threaded fastener industry (nuts and bolts) where 21 "first choice" BSW, BSF and BA series thread in the range 0 BA to 1 inch plus another 20 UNC and UNF fasteners were replaced by just seven metric sizes. This resulted in considerable cost savings, not only due to the reduction in inventories, but also the numbers of taps, dies, tapping and clearance drills that workshops held.[37]

text: An example of soft conversion was within the construction products industry (metricated 1969 and 1972) where certain products continue to be produced to with reference to Imperial trade names but made using metric dimensions in the factory; for example, a 13 mm thick plasterboard is still often called 'half-inch', even though the measurement is rounded to a convenient metric size and so is now only approximately half an inch thick.[51] The construction industry itself (which included civil engineering projects) was one of the leaders in the metrication programme, having drawn up a detailed plan in 1967 and completing the phase-over by the end 1972.[39][52]

text: The BSI, after consultations with the engineering industry, had set a target of 75% of the industry being metric by the end of 1975. This target was not reached, one of the principal reasons being that other sectors, especially the retail sector, were lagging in reaching their targets.[53]

text: Education[edit]

text: In England and Wales, unlike Scotland, education was controlled at county council level rather than at national level. In 1967 the Department for Education alerted all local education authorities to the need to adapt to the metric system. In 1968 all bodies that had an interest in the examination system were invited to contribute to the discussion of both metrication and decimalisation in education.[54] In science subjects, this meant a conversion from the cgs system to SI, in geography from the imperial system to SI while in mathematics it meant discarding the teaching of mixed unit arithmetic, a topic that took up a significant part of the time allocated in primary schools to arithmetic/mathematics and 7% of total time allocated to all subjects.[55]

text: In Scotland, virtually all examinations set from 1973 onwards used SI, especially those connected with science and engineering.[56] In England, each examination board had its own timetable – the Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations, for example, announced a change to SI in 1968, with examinations in science and mathematics using SI by 1972, Geography in 1973 and Home Economics and various craft subjects being converted by the end of 1976.[31] Pupils were hampered by a revolution in teaching methods that was taking place at the same time and a lack of coordination at the national level. According to a report in 1982, children were taught the relationship between decimal counting, decimal money and metric measurements, with time being the only quantity whose units were manipulated in a mixed-unit manner.[57]

text: The year 1988 saw the introduction of the National Curriculum, in which SI is the principal system of measurement and calculation. Following devolution, there are now separate but similar curricula for state schools in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. They provide for pupils to be taught to measure, calculate and solve problems using the metric system, but also to be cognisant of the Imperial measurements still in common use and their approximate metric equivalents.[a]

text: Wholesale, retail and consumer industries[edit]

text: The retail industry proved difficult for the Metrication Board.[61] The sector saw little benefit in metrication – competition was fierce and margins low. The opinions of the trade organisations with which the Metrication Board could negotiate were fragmented.

text: Many sectors of the industry did agree to a programme coordinated by the Metrication Board, with metrication of pre-packaged goods being introduced on a commodity by commodity basis. In 1977 when a carpet retailing chain reneged on an industry-wide agreement to use metric units (carpeting at £8.36 per square yard being much more appealing to the customer than carpeting at £10.00 per square metre), it became necessary for the first time to use legislation to enforce metrication rather than to rely on a voluntary adoption of the system.[30][62]

text: Much of the retail industry was metricated during 1977 and 1978 by means of statutory orders.[49]

text: By the beginning of 1980, 95% of the "basic shopping basket" of foods were sold in metric quantities, with only a few products not being sold in prescribed metric quantities. The final report of the Metrication Board catalogues dried vegetables, dried fruit, flour and flour products, oat products, cocoa and chocolate powder, margarine, instant coffee, pasta, biscuits, bread, sugar, corn flakes, salt, white fats, dripping and shredded suet as being sold by prescribed metric quantities while no agreement had been reached with the industry regarding jam, marmalade, honey, jelly preserves, syrup, cereal grain and starches.[63]

text: When the Metrication Board was abolished in 1980, agreement had been reached with the EEC regarding the use of certain imperial measures until the end of 1989, a date that was subsequently extended to 1999. By this date most pre-packaged goods were sold in metric quantities with loose goods and goods weighed in front of the customer continuing to be sold in imperial quantities. In 1999, when the British Government allowed the derogation for the use of imperial units to lapse, all goods (apart from beer, cider and milk in returnable containers) had to be priced in metric units.[64]

text: The changeover to selling of petrol by the litre rather than by the gallon took place after the Board was wound up. It was prompted by a technical shortcoming of petrol pump design: pumps (which were electro-mechanical) had been designed to be switchable between metric and imperial units, but had no provisions for prices above £1.999 per unit of fuel. Once the price of petrol rose above £1 per gallon, the industry requested that they be permitted to sell fuel by the litre rather than the gallon, enabling them to reduce the unit price by a factor of about 4.5 and so to extend the lives of existing pumps.[65]

text: In the United Kingdom, draught beer and cider are the only goods that may not be sold in metric units; the only legal measures for these are 1⁄3 pint (190 ml) (rarely encountered), 1⁄2 pint (283 ml) and multiples of the pint.[66][67] Other alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises are sold by metric measure: the 1⁄4, 1⁄5 and 1⁄6 gill measures for spirits (whisky, gin, rum and vodka) were replaced by 25 ml and 35 ml measures on 1 January 1995[64] and since 1995 wine may only be sold in 125 ml, 175 ml or 250 ml glasses. (Prior to 1995, the size of wine glasses was unregulated.)[68]

text: Other sectors[edit]

text: Before the Hodgson Committee, the metrication process was already in operation. One example was the Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency for Great Britain, which initiated the Retriangulation of Great Britain in 1936, using metric measures.[69] A metric National Grid was then used as the basis for maps published by the Ordnance Survey from World War II onwards,[70] the War Office maps having had a metric grid since 1920.[71] The Ordnance Survey decided on full metrication in 1964. The best-selling 1 inch to the mile range of maps started being replaced with the 1:50000 range in 1969.[72] The metrication of Admiralty Charts began in 1967 as part of a modernisation programme.[73] As of 2013[update], road and street maps with primary scales in inches per mile were still being produced by the company Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas.[1][2]

text: Another example was the Met Office who, in 1962, started publishing temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit, dropping the use of Fahrenheit from their official reports in 1970.[74]

text: Many other sectors metricated their operations in the late 1960s or early 1970s, invisibly to the general public,[75] though their use of metric units can be seen in the financial pages of the leading newspapers. Such sectors included the principal London commodity markets (apart from the oil industry)[76] the London Metal Exchange,[77] and the various agricultural markets.[78]

text: Costs[edit]

text: The basic features of the British metrication programme as announced in 1966 was a voluntary adoption of the metric programme with the costs being absorbed where they fell. As a result, the costs and savings of metrication in the United Kingdom have not been comprehensively determined and studies have tended to focus on specific programmes. The impact of a voluntary programme meant that industry was free to take the most cost-efficient approach, which in many cases has meant installing equipment calibrated in metric units as part of an ongoing maintenance cycle rather than as part of a specific metrication programme. Such an approach was taken by the gas industry where all newly installed meters record usage in cubic metres, but many older installations will measure in cubic feet.[79]

text: A 1970s study by the United Kingdom chemical industry estimated costs at £6m over seven years, or 0.25% of expected capital investment over the change period. Other estimates ranged from 0.04% of a large company's turnover spread over seven years to 2% of a small company's turnover for a single year. Many companies reported recouping their costs within a year as a result of improved production.[80]

text: Some 90% of United Kingdom exports go to metric countries (as only Liberia, Burma and the United States have not adopted the International System of Units[81]), and there are costs to business of maintaining two production lines (one for exports to the US in US customary units, and the other for domestic sales and exports to the rest of the world in metric). These have been estimated at 3% of annual turnover by the Institute of Production Engineers, and at £1.1 billion (1980) per annum by the CBI. Regardless of United Kingdom metrication, goods produced in the United Kingdom for export to the United States would have still been labelled in non-metric units to comply with the US Fair Packaging and Labelling Act.

text: In 1978 the cost of converting road signs from miles to kilometres in the United Kingdom was estimated to be between £7½ and £8½ million (1978 prices).[82] A 2005 report pointed to the metrication of the United Kingdom's two million road signs as the major cost of completing the United Kingdom's metrication programme. The Department for Transport (DfT) costed the replacement of all of the United Kingdom's road signs in a short period of time at between £565 million and £644 million.[83] In 2008–09, before the outcome of the consultations that led to the EU directive 2009/3/EC was known, the DfT had a contingency of £746 million for the metrication of roads signs.[84] In contrast, the United Kingdom Metrication Association, in a report published in 2006,[85] and using a model based on the Irish road sign metrication programme,[86] estimated the cost of converting road signs to be £80 million, spread over 5 years (or about 0.25% of the annual roads budget).

text: Regulatory aspects[edit]

text: Adoption of European legislation[edit]

text: Traditionally, weights and measures legislation in the United Kingdom only applied to trade,[87] but when the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community, it had to align its legislation with EEC directives that were in place. These directives included EEC directive 71/354/EEC which related to weights and measures and which required the United Kingdom to formally define in law a number of units of measure, hitherto formally undefined in law including those for electric current (ampere), electric potential difference (volt), temperature (degree Celsius and kelvin), pressure (pascal), energy (joule) and power (watt).

text: Due to public opposition to metrication (a 1979 survey indicated that, of people who knew about the programme, 46% opposed it and 31% supported it),[88] the programme stalled. In the late 1970s, the United Kingdom government asked the EEC to postpone the deadlines for the introduction of metric units. The result was the repeal of directive 71/354/EEC and the introduction of directive 80/181/EEC. This new directive contained a derogation allowing for the continued use in the United Kingdom, until the end of 1989 (subsequently extended to 1995), of many imperial units then in use for trade.[c][89] The directive should have been transposed into United Kingdom law by 30 June 1981, but this transposition only occurred with the enactment of The Weights and Measures Act 1985,[90] which also removed from the statute book a large number of imperial units of measure that had fallen into disuse as a result of the completed elements of the metrication programme.[d][66]

text: At the end of 1988, the derogation was extended generally to the end of 1994, and to the end of 1999 for the sale of loose goods.[91] This amendment was transposed into United Kingdom law by the Units of Measurement Regulations 1994.[91] At the same time, regulations were passed prescribing metric quantities by which the remaining pre-packaged retail commodities not yet defined in metric terms could be sold. From the beginning of 1995, pre-packed coffee, coffee mixtures and coffee bags had to be sold in the prescribed quantities of 57 grams (2 oz), 75 grams (2.6 oz), 113 grams (4 oz) 125 grams (4.4 oz), 227 grams (8 oz), 250 grams (8.8 oz), 340 grams (12 oz), 454 grams (1 lb), 500 grams (1.1 lb), 680 grams (1.50 lb), 750 grams (1.65 lb) or a multiple of 454 grams (1 lb) or of 500 grams (1.1 lb); and honey, jam and marmalade other than diabetic jam or marmalade, jelly preserves and molasses, syrup and treacle in 57 grams (2 oz), 113 grams (4 oz), 227 grams (8 oz), 340 grams (12 oz), 454 grams (1 lb), 680 grams (1.50 lb) or a multiple of 454 grams (1 lb).[92]

text: The number of units of measure to which derogations applied was reduced with effect from 1 October 1995[c] and reduced further with effect from 1 January 2000.[e] A direct result of the changes that were effective from 1 January 2000 was the requirement that most loose goods sold by weight, volume or length (for example, potatoes or tomatoes that were sold loose, or cheese or meat that was cut or weighed in front of the customer) must be priced and measured using metric units.

text: After 1 January 2000, the remaining non-metric units, allowed by United Kingdom law without supplementary indicators [93] for economic, public health, public safety or administrative use, are limited to:

text:
the mile, yard, foot and inch for road traffic signs, distance and speed measurement,
the imperial pint for the dispensing of draught beer and cider, and for the sale of milk in returnable containers,
the acre for land registration,[f]
the troy ounce for transaction in precious metals.[66][94][95]

text: Goods and services sold by a description, as opposed to a price per unit quantity, are not covered by weights and measures legislation; thus, a fence panel sold as "6 foot by 6 foot" is legal, as is a 6 x 4 inch photograph frame, but a pole sold as "50 pence per linear foot", with no accompanying metric price, would be illegal.

text: Supplementary indicators[edit]

text: In response to the specific requirements of the United Kingdom and of Ireland, both of which were in the process of converting to the metric system Directive 80/181/EEC incorporated a provision that any unit of measure could be followed by a "supplementary indicator", provided that the supplementary indicator was not the dominant unit and that it was "... expressed in characters no larger than those of the corresponding indication ...".[96][95] Initially this provision was to have expired in 1989, but it was extended firstly to 1999 and then to 2009. During the 2007 consultations on the revision of the directive, strong representations were made to retain this provision as its removal would impede trade with the United States. When the directive was revised in 2009, the "sunset clause" was removed from the text.

text: The EU directive gives no guidance as to what units may or may not be used as supplementary indicators but British legislation has restricted the unit that may be used in this way for purposes of trade to specified imperial units only.[g]

text: Furthermore, in the United Kingdom it is still common to see imperial packaging sizes marked with metric units. For example, most jars of jam, packs of sausages and tins of golden syrup are marked 454 g.

text: There are no restrictions on the units that consumers can use when asking for goods, and the use of supplementary indicators and dual-measure weighing scales (provided these have been calibrated in metric) means that it is possible for a consumer to see an imperial price, request an imperial quantity and be supplied with the imperial quantity, provided that the seller legally weighs out and sells the metric equivalent.[97]

text: Scope of the EU Directive[edit]

text: In its initial form, the scope of directive 80/181/EEC was restricted to "economic, public health, public safety and administrative" purposes only. An outcome of the 2007 consultations was a proposal by the EU Commission to extend the scope of the directive to include "consumer protection" and "environmental issues". This was implemented by removing the phrase limiting the scope of the directive, thereby extending it to all matters that come under the ambit of the Internal Market Chapter of the EU Treaty.[98]

text: The directive specifically excluded units of measurement used in international treaties relating to rail traffic, aviation and shipping such as expressing aircraft altitude in feet.

text: The United Kingdom's legislation of 2009 that implemented these changes made no reference to the extension of the directive's scope.[99]

text: Weighing machines[edit]

text: During the 1990s, a series of statutory instruments relating to weighing devices and to the sale of pre-packaged goods were passed[91] to ensure that United Kingdom law on metrology was harmonised with that of its EEC partners. In line with EEC practice, the meaning of weights displayed on pre-packaged goods was changed in 1980 to show the average weight of each item in the batch rather than the guaranteed minimum weight of each individual item.[100] The EU Measuring Instruments Directive (Directive 2004/22/EU) which intends to create a common market for measuring instruments across the 27 countries of the EU came into force on 30 October 2006 with a ten-year transition period.[101]

text: The EU non-automatic weighing instrument directive (directive 2009/23/EEC), which came into force in 2009 codified existing regulations regarding the harmonisation of non-automatic weighing devices used for trade, medical purposes or in the preparation of evidence to be heard in court. The directive identified four classes of weighing device ranging from Class I (having a minimum accuracy of 1 part in 50,000) to class IIII (having a minimum accuracy of 1 part in 100). Devices that fall within the scope of the directive are required to be recalibrated at regular intervals and to have an output showing SI units, except for those used for weighing precious metals or stones. Secondary indications may be shown, provided that they cannot be mistaken for primary indications.[102]

text: The impact of this directive in the United Kingdom is that most traders cannot legally use weighing devices calibrated in units other than SI units. In 2000, after the deadline for the cessation of selling loose produce by imperial units had passed, some traders continued to sell produce from their market stalls using imperial-only scales.[103] They were variously prosecuted for using unlawful scales, giving short measure and failing to display unit price per kilogram. Five traders, who became known as the Metric Martyrs, appealed unsuccessfully to the High Court,[104][105] were refused appeal to the House of Lords,[106] and appealed unsuccessfully to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

text: A LACORS report published in March 2010 highlighting widescale use of inappropriate scales in hospitals, sometimes of domestic quality, recommended that on safety grounds NHS hospitals should use Class III (or better) metric-only scales.[107] A Department of Health alert was subsequently sent to all NHS trusts endorsing these recommendations.[108]

text: Assessment of the British metrication programme[edit]

text: Following the publication of the UK government's White Paper on metrication in February 1972, the journal New Scientist, reported the lack of urgency in the minister's handling of the issue and described how the government refused to use its purchasing power to advance the metrication process. It quoted one [unnamed] metricationalist as saying "[The White Paper] is not firming things up at all. It will turn us into a dual country".[109]

text: Studies of the British metrication programme included two by US government agencies – NASA in October 1976[110] and the National Bureau of Standards in April 1979.[36] Both reports noted that the British metrication programme lacked leadership from government. This manifest itself in many ways including:

text:
The failure to appoint the Metrication Board at the start of the metrication programme meant that industry had to take the lead in a programme that affected everybody and did not have the machinery to implement metrication in, especially, the retail sector.
The failure of government to provide funding – much of the initial work was funded by industry itself.
The failure to provide a "champion" for metrication – such a role fell outside the remit of the Metrication Board.
The belief that the programme could be accomplished purely by voluntary means – both reports highlighted the need for appropriate legislation to keep the programme on track.

tag: ol

text: These sentiments were echoed in the final report of the Metrication Board.[111]

text: The involvement of the European Commission led metrication to be linked in public debate with Euroscepticism, and traditionally Eurosceptic parts of the British press often exaggerating or inventing the extent of enforced metrication.[112] Example stories include the Daily Star, which on 17 January 2001 claimed that beer would soon have to be sold by the litre in pubs, something not demanded in any EU directive.[112]

text: Reaction to the UK Metric Association report A Very British Mess (2004),[113] the executive summary of which was published in Science in Parliament,[114] was mixed – the Daily Telegraph, put forward the proposition that the UKMA's assertion of hostility or indifference by the British public to the metric system was due to the lack of cultural empathy rather than it being "Foreign or European"[115] while the Economist said that retreat [to the imperial system] was impossible and the current impasse costly".[116]

text: An Ipsos MORI telephone survey conducted in September 2007 for The Sun newspaper, entitled "Northern Rock, Metric Measurements And The EU Constitutional Treaty" found significant opposition to metrication in the sample questioned when asked "How strongly would you support and oppose Britain switching to use entirely metric measurements, rather than continuing to use traditional units?":[117] The opinion breakdown showed that the greatest variation in opinion was between tabloid and broadsheet readers rather than age, social class or voting intention.[118]

text: Current usage[edit]

text: In its final report [1980], the Metrication Board wrote "Today metric units are used in many important areas of British life – including education; agriculture; construction; industrial materials; much of manufacturing; the wholesaling of petrol, milk, cheese and textiles; fatstock markets and many port fish auctions, nearly all the principal prepacked foods; posts and telecommunications: most freight and customs tariffs; all new and revised Ordnance Survey maps; and athletics. Nevertheless, taken as a whole, Britain is far from being wholly metric." The report major identified areas that had not yet been metricated as being the retail petrol trade [metricated in 1984], retail sale of loose goods [metricated in 2000] and roads signs [not metricated].[119]

text: The report did not address issues related to the media such as news reports and advertising.

text: Retail industry[edit]

text: The regulations that came into force on 1 January 2000 regarding the sale of loose goods effectively made it mandatory to use metric units in the retail industry for most products though supplementary indicators using certain imperial units[g] were still permitted under United Kingdom law. Various price-marking orders prescribed the sizes in which products could be marketed. Some of these restrictions, such as wine being sold in 750 ml bottles, were derived from EU directives, while others, such as the production of bread in 400 g or 800 g loaves, were applicable to the United Kingdom only. The principle of the Internal Market, backed up by a judgment of the European Court of Justice, required that any product that was legally produced anywhere in the European Union could, in most cases, be sold anywhere in the EU.[120] Thus a 500 g packet of rye bread, legally manufactured in Germany, could be sold in the United Kingdom even though it was not lawful under British law for a British baker to produce an identical 500 g packet of bread.

text: A consultation by the EU aimed at bypassing this impasse was launched in 2004. The outcome was Directive 2007/45/EC which deregulated prescribed packaging of most products, leaving only wines and liqueurs subject to prescribed EU-wide pre-packaging legislation.[121][122] While this effectively undid much of the work done by the Metrication Board by deregulating prescribed sizing for over 40 products,[123] the law relating to labelling of products has remained unchanged.

text: Government organisations[edit]

text: The civil service is bound by law to follow EU directives relating to public administration.[124] Government disseminators of information include the Office for National Statistics and the Ordnance Survey office both of whom, being government departments, use metric units in their work.

text: Road and rail transport[edit]

text: Standards pertaining to transport infrastructure were metricated using soft conversions, as part of the general metrication of the engineering industry – the standard railway track gauges fixed at 4 ft 8½ in in 1845[125] was redefined as 1.435 m[126] – a decrease of 0.1 mm but well within the engineering tolerances. Motorway marker posts used by road maintenance teams and emergency services demarcate locations in multiples of 100 m.[127] Standards relating to the design and building of new road and rail vehicles have been metric since the engineering changeover in the 1970s.[128] Imperial units have been retained for both road and railway signage except on new railways such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link,[129] and the Tyne and Wear Metro and London Tramlink which along with all other modern British tram systems also operate in metric. The Cambrian Line has also changed to metric units with the change to ERMTS signalling. London Underground has converted to using metric units for distances but not for speeds.[130][131]

text: Apart from the sale of petrol, which was metricated in the 1980s, motorists have seen little metrication. Speedometers and mandatory information on car advertisements such as fuel consumption are given in both metric and imperial units. The 1994 TSRGD permitted the use of metric units alongside imperial units for width and height warning signs[132] and dual metric/imperial signs became mandatory from March 2015 .[133] Distances and speed restrictions are shown only in imperial units.[132]

text: Public opinion[edit]

text: 2013 public survey of understanding and use[edit]

text: The UK Metric Association (UKMA) commissioned YouGov to carry out a survey to investigate "public understanding and use of metric and imperial units and of public support for completing the metric changeover". The UKMA executive summary of results of the September and November 2013 survey, published in 2014, presents the following points as the key results:

text:
Half of respondents were opposed to completing metrication, with a quarter supportive and a fifth indifferent or non-committal.
Younger generations were more supportive than the older but 36% of the 18-24 age group were opposed (with 33% supportive and 22% indifferent or non-committal).
Where there are specific practical reasons for using metric units, the majority of the population prefer to use them.
Where parental, peer and media pressures are strongly in favour of imperial units, all age groups continue to use imperial - including for personal weighing (89% of the over 60s and 64% of the 18-24s).
There was a definite association between age and acceptance/use of metric units but there was still either a majority or a large minority of younger people who habitually use imperial rather than metric units for various everyday functions.

text: The sample size was 1,978 adults in September and 1,878 in November. The results were weighted and are said by YouGov to be representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).[134]

text: 2016 public survey of preference following Brexit referendum[edit]

text: After the British Weights and Measures Association reported regularly getting communications from shops asking if they could start selling products in pounds and ounces again following the Brexit referendum, YouGov carried out a survey to establish the preferences of the British public. The survey, of 5191 UK adults, comprised just one question: "The British Weights and Measures Association has reported that, following the result of the EU referendum, shops are regularly getting in touch to see if they can start selling food products in pounds and ounces again. Following Brexit, would you like to see a return to imperial measurements for produce?"

text:
45% answered "Yes, I would like to see produce sold in imperial measurements (pounds and ounces)"
39% answered "No, I would prefer to see produce continue to be sold in metric measurements (kilograms and grams)"
16% answered "Don't know"

text: The The survey took place on the 30 August 2016 and the results were weighted to be representative of the GB population.[135] [136][137]

text: Advocacy groups[edit]

text: A number of advocacy groups exist to promote either the metric or the imperial system. The groups include:

text:
Active Resistance to Metrication, founded by Eurosceptic politician Tony Bennett,[138] is best known for its direct action campaign against metric signs.[139]
The British Weights and Measures Association campaigns for the retention of imperial measurements in the United Kingdom.[140]

text: The UK Metric Association campaigns for the complete replacement of the imperial measurement system with the metric system in the United Kingdom.[141]


document_title: Miles to Go Before I Sleep

question_text: author of miles to go before i sleep

question_tokens: author of miles to go before i sleep

root

text: Miles to Go Before I Sleep

text: Miles to Go Before I Sleep is a quotation from the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost.

tag: p

text: It may also refer to:

text: "Miles to Go (Before I Sleep)", a 1998 musical single by Céline Dion, released in Canada in 1998

tag: ul

text:
Disambiguation page providing links to articles with similar titles
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Miles to Go Before I Sleep.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

tag: table

text: Disambiguation pages

text: Disambiguation pages with short descriptionAll article disambiguation pagesAll disambiguation pages


document_title: Miracle on 34th Street

question_text: who played kris kringle in miracle on 34th street

text: Miracle on 34th Street

text: Plot[edit]

text: Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is indignant to find that the man assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Percy Helton) is intoxicated. When he complains to event director Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), she persuades Kris to take his place. He does so well, he is hired to play Santa at Macy's flagship New York City store on 34th Street.

text: Ignoring instructions to steer parents to buy from Macy's, Kris directs one shopper (Thelma Ritter) to a competitor. Impressed, she tells Julian Shellhammer (Philip Tonge), head of the toy department, that she will become a loyal customer.

text: Attorney Fred Gailey (John Payne), Doris' neighbor, takes the young divorcée's second-grade daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to see Santa. Doris has raised her to not believe in fairy tales, but Susan's lack of faith is shaken after seeing Kris speak in Dutch with a girl who does not know English. Doris asks Kringle to tell Susan that he is not Santa, but he insists that he is.

text: Worried, Doris decides to fire him. However, Kris has generated so much positive publicity and goodwill for Macy's that a delighted Macy (Harry Antrim) promises Doris and Julian bonuses. To alleviate Doris's misgivings, Julian has Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall) administer a "psychological evaluation". Kris passes, but questions Sawyer's own mental health.

text: The store expands on the concept. To avoid looking greedy, competitor Gimbels implements the same policy, forcing Macy's and others to escalate. Eventually, Kris does the impossible: he reconciles bitter rivals Macy and Gimbel (Herbert Heyes).

text: Pierce (James Seay), the doctor at Kris' nursing home, assures Doris that Kris is harmless. Kris makes a pact with Fred – he will work on Susan's cynicism while Fred does the same with Doris, disillusioned by her failed marriage. When Susan reveals she wants a house, Kris reluctantly promises to do his best.

text: Kris learns that Sawyer has convinced young employee Alfred that he is mentally ill simply because he is kind-hearted. Finding Sawyer unwilling to budge, Kris hits him on the head with his cane. Sawyer exaggerates his pain in order to have Kris confined to Bellevue Hospital. Tricked into cooperating, and believing Doris to be in on the deception, Kris deliberately fails his examination and is recommended for permanent commitment. However, Fred persuades Kris not to give up.

text: At a hearing before Judge Henry X. Harper (Gene Lockhart), District Attorney Thomas Mara (Jerome Cowan) gets Kris to assert that he is Santa Claus and rests his case. Fred argues that Kris is not insane because he actually is Santa. Mara requests Harper rule that Santa does not exist. In private, Harper's political adviser, Charlie Halloran (William Frawley), warns him that doing so would be disastrous for his upcoming reelection bid. The judge buys time by hearing evidence.

text: Doris quarrels with Fred when he quits his job at a prestigious law firm to defend Kris. Fred calls Macy as a witness. When Mara asks if he believes Kris to be Santa, Macy starts to equivocate, but when pressed, he considers the business repercussions as well as the good Kris has done and states, "I do!" Afterward, Macy fires Sawyer. Fred then calls Mara's own young son (Bobby Hyatt), who testifies that his father told him that Santa was real. Mara concedes the point.

text: Mara then demands that Fred prove that Kris is "the one and only" Santa Claus on the basis of some competent authority. While Fred searches frantically, Susan writes Kris a letter to cheer him up, which Doris also signs. When a mail sorter (Jack Albertson) sees Susan's letter, he suggests they deliver the many letters to Santa taking up space in the dead letter office too. Fred presents Judge Harper with three of them, addressed simply to "Santa Claus" and delivered to Kris, asserting the Post Office has thus acknowledged that he is the Santa Claus. After mailmen dump another 21 full mailbags before him, Harper dismisses the case.

text: On Christmas morning, Susan is disappointed that Kris could not get her what she wanted. Kris gives Fred and Doris a route home that avoids traffic. Along the way, Susan sees her dream house with a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. Fred learns that Doris had encouraged Susan to have faith and suggests they get married and purchase the house. He then boasts that he must be a great lawyer since he proved Kris was Santa. However, when they spot a cane inside that looks just like Kris's, he is not so sure.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Maureen O'Hara as Doris Walker
John Payne as Frederick M. "Fred" Gailey
Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle
Natalie Wood as Susan Walker
Porter Hall as Granville Sawyer
William Frawley as Charlie Halloran
Jerome Cowan as District Attorney Thomas Mara
Philip Tonge as Julian Shellhammer
Alvin Greenman as Alfred
Gene Lockhart as The Hon. Henry X. Harper
Harry Antrim as R. H. Macy
Herbert Heyes as Mr. Gimbel
James Seay as Dr. Pierce, a geriatrics physician at the Brooks Memorial Home for the Aged
Thelma Ritter as a harried shopper
Percy Helton as the drunken Santa Claus stand-in the parade
Ann Staunton as Mrs. Mara
Mary Field as Dutch Girl's Adopted Mother
Marlene Lyden as the Dutch Girl
Bobby Hyatt as Thomas Mara, Jr.
Theresa Harris as Cleo, the Walker's Maid/Housekeeper
Jack Albertson as the post office employee
Jeff Corey as Reporter
William Forrest as Dr. Rogers at Bellevue
Snub Pollard as mail-bearing Court Officer
Robert Karnes as 2nd Bellevue Intern
Jack Albertson as Al (uncredited)

text: Production[edit]

text: Although the film is set during the Christmas season, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May, arguing that more people go to the movies in warmer weather. The studio rushed to promote it while keeping its Christmas setting a secret. Fox's promotional trailer depicted a fictional producer roaming the studio backlot and encountering such stars as Rex Harrison, Anne Baxter, Peggy Ann Garner, and Dick Haymes extolling the virtues of the film. In addition, the movie posters prominently featured O'Hara and Payne, with Gwenn's character kept in the background. The film opened in New York City at the Roxy Theatre on June 4, 1947.[4] By contrast, modern home video packaging has Gwenn and Wood dominating the imagery, with the DVD release having Kringle in his Santa Claus costume.

text: O'Hara was initially reluctant to take the role, having recently moved back to Ireland. She immediately changed her mind after reading the script[5] and came back to the United States for the film.

text: The Christmas window displays seen in the film were originally made by Steiff for Macy's. Macy's later sold the window displays to FAO Schwarz in New York. FAO Schwarz then sold the windows to the Marshall & Ilsley Bank of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they are on display every December in the bank's lobby on North Water Street.

text: The house shown at the end of the film is a 1703 square foot single family home built in 1943 at 24 Derby Road, Port Washington, New York. The home looks practically the same as it did in 1947, except that the roof line has been altered by the addition of a window.

text: Release[edit]

text: The film was re-released in theatres on December 20 and 23, 2015, as part of the "TCM Presents" series by Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events.[6]

text: Reaction[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2014)

text: Miracle on 34th Street received mostly positive reviews from critics. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times said: "For all those blasé skeptics who do not believe in Santa Claus—and likewise for all those natives who have grown cynical about New York—but most especially for all those patrons who have grown weary of the monotonies of the screen, let us heartily recommend the Roxy's new picture, Miracle on 34th Street. As a matter of fact, let's go further: let's catch its spirit and heartily proclaim that it is the freshest little picture in a long time, and maybe even the best comedy of this year."[7] Today, it is considered by many as one of the best films of 1947.[8][9] The film currently holds a 96% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[10]

text: The Catholic Legion of Decency gave the movie a "B", "morally objectionable in part" rating. This was mainly due to the fact that O'Hara was portraying a divorcée in the film.[11]

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text: The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edmund Gwenn), Best Writing, Original Story (Valentine Davies) and Best Writing, Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to Gentleman's Agreement.

text: It was ranked ninth by the American Film Institute on 100 Years... 100 Cheers, a list of America's most inspiring films.[12] Miracle on 34th Street was listed as the fifth best film in the fantasy genre in the American Film Institute's "Ten top Ten" lists in 2008.[13][14]

text: In 2005, Miracle on 34th Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[15][16]

text: American Film Institute Lists

text:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated[17]
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[18]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #9
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[19]
AFI's 10 Top 10 – #5 Fantasy Film

text: Inaccuracies[edit]

text: In the book Reel Justice, the authors claim that Judge Harper could have dismissed the case early without the political repercussions he feared. In their theory, once the prosecutor rested his case immediately after Kris Kringle admitted in court simply that he believed he was Santa Claus, Judge Harper could have ruled that prosecution had forfeited its opportunity to prove that Kringle was dangerous (the basic point of such hearings; Kringle's actual mental state itself being irrelevant), and ordered him immediately released. However, this high standard for involuntary commitment was not instituted until 1975 with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision O'Connor v. Donaldson.

text: When demonstrating that he has taken several mental examinations in the past, Kris Kringle answers his own question about who was the Vice President under John Quincy Adams as Daniel D. Tompkins. Tompkins actually served under James Monroe. John C. Calhoun is the correct answer to Kringle's question. Tompkins was the 6th vice-president and Quincy Adams was the 6th president, leading to confusion in the script.[20]

text: Rowland Hussey Macy, called R. H. Macy in the film, died 70 years prior to the film (in 1877).[21]

text: Home media and colorization[edit]

text: Miracle on 34th Street was first released on VHS and laserdisc in 1987.

text: In 1985, it became one of the first full-length black and white films to be colorized.[citation needed] The 4½ month process was carried out by Color Systems Technology, Inc..[22] In 1993, this version was released on laserdisc and VHS and was followed four years later by a "50th Anniversary Edition", remastered by THX.

text: The first DVD release was in October 1999, featuring the B&W version alongside the original theatrical trailer and a TV spot. In November 2006, it was re-released as a 2-disc "Special Edition" DVD, with disc one containing an "all new colorized version" carried out by Legend Films. The second disc had the original black-and-white version and numerous extras, including The 20th Century Fox Hour's 1955 TV remake. Both discs also included a full-length audio commentary by Maureen O'Hara. The B&W disc has since been re-released several times, including in a pairing with the 1994 remake.

text: In October 2009, 20th Century Fox released the B&W version on Blu-ray with all previous extras, bar the TV remake.[23]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: There are four remakes of the movie and a Broadway musical. In addition, Lux Radio Theater broadcast an adaptation in 1947 which starred the original cast including Natalie Wood. In 1948 it was done again on Lux, without Natalie Wood's participation, and it was adapted as a half-hour radio play on two broadcasts of Screen Director's Playhouse, all featuring Edmund Gwenn in his screen role. In these production Kris correctly cites James Monroe as the President for whom Daniel D. Tompkins was the Vice-President. In addition, Samuel French, Inc. owns the rights to a stage version performed by community theaters and others.

text: A 1955 one-hour television adaptation of the movie starred Thomas Mitchell as Kris, Macdonald Carey as Fred, Teresa Wright as Doris, and Sandy Descher as Susan. This version did not show the drunken Santa at all. Titled "The Miracle on 34th Street", it originally aired as an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour. It was later re-run as "Meet Mr. Kringle".

text: Ed Wynn played Kris in a 1959 television adaptation of the movie. Also featured was Orson Bean. It was broadcast live and in color on NBC the day after Thanksgiving. NBC made a kinescope of the program, probably for broadcasting opening night on the West Coast. The copy was in a large collection of kinescopes donated by NBC to the Library of Congress and recently unearthed by Richard Finegan, who reported his experiences in the December 2005 issue of Classic Images.

text: A 1963 Broadway musical version, entitled Here's Love, was written by Meredith Willson.

text: A 1973 television version featured Jane Alexander, David Hartman, Roddy McDowall, Sebastian Cabot as Kris (without his natural beard; he was forced to shave and wear a false beard for the role), Suzanne Davidson, Jim Backus, David Doyle and Tom Bosley. It was adapted by Jeb Rosebrook from the George Seaton screenplay, and directed by Fielder Cook. Mrs. Walker's first name is changed to Karen in this version. This would prove to be the final version in which the department store was actually Macy's. David Doyle, who played R. H. Macy in this version had played Mr. Sawyer in the original Broadway cast of Here's Love 10 years earlier.

text: A 1994 feature film starred Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J. T. Walsh, Timothy Shea, James Remar, Jane Leeves, Simon Jones, William Windom and Mara Wilson. It was adapted by John Hughes from the Seaton script, and directed by Les Mayfield. Due to Macy's refusal to give permission to use its name, it was replaced by the fictitious "Cole's". Gimbels no longer existed by 1994 and was replaced with the fictional "Shopper's Express". Alvin Greenman (Alfred in the original version) played a doorman. This version had a more serious tone than the original and a large portion was rewritten, although the majority of the plot and characters remained intact. The film also added a subtext concerning religious faith.

text: The book was adapted into a stage play by Will Severin, Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder and John Vreeke in 2000. It is a favorite in many community and regional theaters during the Christmas season.[24] The characters' names are those used in the novella, and the stage setting is distinctly late 1940s. Production rights are held by Samuel French, Inc.[25]

text: The flagship Macy's Department Store at Herald Square in New York features a 30-minute puppet version of the story within its Santaland display, featuring the voice talents of Broadway stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Victoria Clark.

text: Character names in different versions[edit]

text:
1947
1955
1959
1963 Broadway musical
1973
1994

Doris Walker
Karen Walker
Dorey Walker

Frederick M. Gailey
Bill Schaffner
Bryan Bedford

Kris Kringle

Susan Walker

Cleo

[eliminated]

Drunk Santa

[no name given]

[no name given]
Tony Falacchi

Julian Shellhammer
Mr. Shellhammer
Marvin Shellhammer
Horace Shellhammer
Donald Shellhammer

Mrs. Shellhammer
[eliminated]

Alfred

Alfred
[eliminated]

Granville Sawyer
Dr. Albert Sawyer
Dr. William Sawyer
Dr. Bartholomew Sawyer
Dr. Henry Sawyer
[eliminated]

R. H. Macy
Mr. Macy
R. H. Macy
C. F. Cole

Mr. Gimbel
Victor Landbergh

Dr. Pierce
[eliminated]
Dr. Pierce
[eliminated]

Hon. Henry X. Harper
Hon. Harper
Hon. Martin Group
Hon. Harper
Hon. Henry Harper

Charlie Halloran

Tammany O'Halloran

[eliminated]

Thomas Mara
Mr. Mara
Thomas Mara
Ed Collins

Mrs. Mara
[eliminated]

[eliminated]
Rebecca Collins

Macy's Department Store
Cole's Department Store

Gimbels Department Store
Shopper's Express


document_title: George Washington Bridge

question_text: how big is the flag on the george washington bridge

text: George Washington Bridge

text: History[edit]

text: The bridge sits near the sites of Fort Washington (in New York) and Fort Lee (in New Jersey), which were fortified positions used by General George Washington and his American forces as they attempted to deter the occupation of New York City in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. Unsuccessful, Washington evacuated Manhattan by crossing between the two forts.[note 1]

text: Construction on the bridge began in October 1927 as a project of the Port of New York Authority.[11] The bridge's chief engineer was Othmar Ammann, with Cass Gilbert as architect.[12] Geologists made 300-foot (91 m) test bores on the New Jersey side to determine if the geological strata would support the bridge.[13] When construction started, the estimated cost of the bridge was $75,000,000.[14] It was expected to carry 8 million vehicles and 1.5 million pedestrians in its first year of operation.[13]

text: Prior to and while under construction, the bridge was unofficially known as the "Hudson River Bridge". That name was the popular choice, chosen over a host of other proposed names as well as the Port Authority's preference for the name "George Washington Bridge", based on 1931 ballot voting submitted to the Port Authority by New York and New Jersey residents. However, the Port Authority named the bridge after George Washington that year.[15]

text: The bridge was dedicated on October 24, 1931, and opened to traffic the following day.[16][17] The George Washington Bridge, with a span of 4,760 feet (1,450 m) in total[1] – including a main span of 3,500 feet (1,100 m) – was the longest main bridge span in the world at the time, at nearly double the 1,850 feet (560 m) of the previous record holder, the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. It held this title until the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937.[2]

text: In 1946, two more lanes were created on the current upper level, widening it from the original six lanes.[11] A second, lower deck, which had been anticipated in Ammann's original plans, was approved by Lt. Col. Joseph R. McCammon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and opened to the public on August 29, 1962.[18] The lower level, nicknamed "Martha" after George's wife Martha Washington,[19][20] increased the capacity of the bridge by 75 percent, and simultaneously made the George Washington Bridge the world's only 14-lane suspension bridge.[21][22]

text: The original design for the towers of the bridge called for them to be encased in concrete and granite. However, because of cost considerations during the Great Depression and favorable aesthetic critiques of the bare steel towers, this was never done.[12] The exposed steel towers, with their distinctive criss-crossed bracing, have become one of the bridge's most identifiable characteristics.[2]

text: The George Washington Bridge was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers on October 24, 1981, the 50th anniversary of the bridge's dedication ceremony.[2]

text: Starting on July 4, 2000, and for subsequent special occasions, each tower is illuminated by 380 light fixtures that highlight the exposed steel structure.[23] On each tower there are a mix of 150 and 1000 watt metal halide lamp fixtures.[24] The architectural lighting design was completed by Domingo Gonzalez Associates.[25]

text: As the enclosed lower level is more vulnerable to hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents than the upper level, most HAZMATs have long been prohibited there.[26] Following the September 11 attacks, the Port Authority also prohibited people from taking photographs on the premises of the bridge out of fear that terrorist groups might study photographs to plot an attack on the bridge, but the photography ban has since been lifted.[citation needed]

text: Since 2006, the bridge has flown the world's largest free-flying American flag, measuring at 90 feet (27 m) long, 60 feet (18 m) wide, and 450 pounds (200 kg). It is hoisted on special occasions when weather allows,[27][28] and appears on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day, as well as on dates honoring those lost in the September 11 attacks. On events where the flag is flown, the tower lights are lit from dusk until 11:59 p.m in the evening.[1]

text: In December 2011, the Port Authority announced plans to repair the bridge. For the first time, the vertical suspender cables would be replaced, at an expected cost of more than $1 billion paid for by toll revenue.[29] On August 5, 2013, repair crews began an $82-million effort to fix cracks in upper-deck structural steel caused by traffic, particularly heavy trucks. The plan called for replacing 632 road deck panels, which would add at least 20 years of service life to the roadway. The work proceeded at night, and was slated to be complete by year's end. But delays prevented completion and ultimately the work was halted for the winter.[30] It was restarted on June 16, 2014, and was expected to last another 12 weeks.[31]

text: From September 9 to 13, 2013, dedicated toll lanes for one of the local Fort Lee entrances to the bridge's upper level were reduced from three to one, the two given to highway traffic, without notification to local government officials and emergency responders on orders from aides and appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie causing a political controversy called "Bridgegate".[32] The local toll lane reductions caused massive traffic congestion, with major delays for school transportation and police and emergency service responses within Fort Lee. The repercussions and controversy surrounding these actions have been investigated by the Port Authority, federal prosecutors, and a New Jersey legislature committee.

text: Road connections[edit]

text: The George Washington Bridge carries I-95 and US 1/9 between New Jersey and New York. Coming from New Jersey, US 46 terminates at the state border in the middle of the bridge. Further west, I-80, US 9W, New Jersey Route 4, and the New Jersey Turnpike also feed into the bridge via either I-95, U.S. 1/9, or U.S. 46 but end before reaching it. The Palisades Interstate Parkway connects directly to the bridge's upper level, though not to the lower level (plans to give direct access to the lower level from the parkway have been postponed). The marginal roads and local streets above the highways are known as GWB Plaza.

text: On the New York side, the 12-lane Trans-Manhattan Expressway heads east across the narrow neck of upper Manhattan, from the bridge to the Harlem River, providing access from both decks to 178th Street, the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive on the West Side of Manhattan, and to Amsterdam Avenue and the Harlem River Drive on the East Side. The Expressway connects directly with the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, which spans the Harlem River as part of the Cross-Bronx Expressway (I-95), providing access to the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87). Heading towards New Jersey, local access to the bridge is available from 179th Street. There are also ramps connecting the bridge to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal,[33] a commuter bus terminal with direct access to the New York City Subway at the 175th Street (A train) station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line.

text: Emergency services are provided by the Port Authority's Tunnel & Bridge Agents, who are stationed at the bridge 24/7 and maintain various apparatus such as fire trucks, rescue trucks, and wreckers specially designed for the GW Bridge for serious incidents, such as fires, vehicle extrications, Haz-Mat incidents, overturned vehicles, and many other emergencies. Emergency Medical Services are also provided by the Agents.

text: Alternate routes[edit]

text: The George Washington Bridge is notorious for traffic jams during rush hour, as are the highways connected to it, including the Trans-Manhattan Expressway that turns into the Cross Bronx Expressway to the east, the Harlem River Drive that turns into the FDR Drive, the Henry Hudson Parkway that turns into West Side Highway to the south, and the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) in the Bronx at the other side of the Harlem River at its interchange with I-95. The western approaches in New Jersey are also slow, specifically I-95, US 1-9, and 46 (merged before the bridge), Route 4, and the Palisades Parkway.

text: Within New York City, the Lincoln Tunnel (NJ 495) and Holland Tunnel (Interstate 78/NJ 139) also enter Manhattan, albeit further south. The Verrazano Bridge (I-278), which connects Staten Island with Brooklyn and also handles traffic from New Jersey, is an alternate route even further south. Within the New York metropolitan area, the Tappan Zee Bridge (Interstates 87/287 and New York State Thruway) is an alternate route further north that avoids the city proper.

text: For traffic from further away, such as traffic between New England (and points north/east) and Pennsylvania (and points south/west), Interstate 84, which crosses the Hudson on the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge, is often used as an alternative rather than either the GWB or the Tappan Zee Bridge, as it avoids the inner New York metropolitan area and is a less congested route.

text: Tolls[edit]

text: Eastbound vehicles must pay a toll to cross the bridge; as with all Hudson River crossings along the North River, westbound vehicles cross for free.[34] As of December 6, 2015, the cash tolls going from New Jersey to New York are $15 for both cars and motorcycles. E-ZPass users are charged $10.50 for cars and $9.50 for motorcycles during off-peak hours, and $12.50 for cars and $11.50 for motorcycles during peak hours. Trucks are charged cash tolls of $20.00 per axle, with discounted peak, off-peak, and overnight E-ZPass tolls. A discounted carpool toll ($6.50) is available at all times for cars with three or more passengers using NY or NJ E-ZPass, who proceed through a staffed toll lane (provided they have registered with the free "Carpool Plan"). There is an off-peak toll of $7.00 for qualified low-emission passenger vehicles, which have received a Green E-ZPass based on registering for the Port Authority Green Pass Discount Plan.[35]

text: Tolls for the bridge cost $.50 one way in 1931, but have been raised over the years up to the current $15 cash toll for passenger vehicles, which was enacted on December 6, 2015.[36] In 2006, bridge tolls totaled about $1 million per day; at the time, tolls for cars were $6 cash, $5 E-ZPass peak hours, and $4 E-ZPass off-peak hours.[37]

text: The bridge has 29 toll lanes: 12 in the main upper-level toll plaza, 10 in the lower-level toll plaza, and seven in the Palisades Interstate Parkway toll plaza leading to the upper level. The toll plazas on the lower level and Palisades Parkway are not staffed during the overnight hours and accept only E-ZPass transactions during this period.[1][38] Pedestrians and cyclists cross for free on the sidewalk. Though there are sidewalks on each side of the bridge, cyclists and pedestrians can use only the south side. The bridge offers spectacular views of the Hudson River, the Manhattan skyline, and the New Jersey Palisades. Pedestrians had to pay tolls of 10 cents shortly after the bridge opened, but non-motorized traffic is no longer tolled.[21]

text: In January 2007, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced a two-year, $3.2-million deal with GEICO, the auto insurance giant, that would have posted a large billboard atop the toll plaza that said "GEICO Drive Safely," along with GEICO signs on the tollbooths and approach roads.[39] A week later, however, the Port Authority canceled the contract after critics said the signs would mar the landmarked bridge, that the Port Authority had failed to negotiate a good price for the deal, and that the signs might violate Fort Lee's regulations.[40]

text: Non-motorized access[edit]

text: The George Washington Bridge is popular among sightseers and commuters traveling by foot, bicycle, or roller skates. The southern sidewalk (accessible by a long, steep ramp on the Manhattan side of the bridge) is shared by cyclists and pedestrians, with a level surface from end to end. The entrance in Manhattan is at 178th Street, just west of Cabrini Boulevard which also has access to the Hudson River Greenway north of the bridge. The sidewalk is accessible on the New Jersey side from Hudson Terrace, where a gate open in daytime and evening allows pedestrians and bikes to pass. Also on Hudson Terrace, less than one hundred yards north of the bike/ped entrance, walkers will find the start of the Long Path hiking trail, which leads after a short walk to some spectacular views of the bridge and continues north toward Albany. The George Washington Bridge carries New York State Bicycle Route 9, a bike route that runs from New York City north to Rouses Point.[41]

text: The Port Authority closed the northern sidewalk at all times in 2008.[42] Though it offers direct access into Palisades Interstate Park, the northern sidewalk requires stairway climbs and descents on both sides, which was inaccessible for people with physical disabilities and posed a risk in poor weather conditions.[43]

text: Transportation Alternatives, a New York City advocacy group, has proposed an enhanced River Road connector in Fort Lee, which would create safer pedestrian and bicycle access to the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side of the bridge.[44]

text: Suicides[edit]

text: The George Washington Bridge is among the most frequently chosen sites in the New York metropolitan area for committing suicide.[45]

text: In 1994, a caller into The Howard Stern Show was on the bridge threatening to commit suicide, but Howard Stern managed to talk him out of it.[46] The 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi, who had jumped from the bridge, drew national attention to cyberbullying and the struggles facing LGBT youth.[47]

text: In 2012, a record 18 people threw themselves off the bridge to their deaths, with 43 suicide attempts overall.[48] In 2014 and 2015, there were also 18 deaths reported. In 2014, there were 74 people were stopped by the Port Authority police, while the next year, another 86 people were stopped by the Port Authority police. In 2016, there were 12 reported deaths, a decrease from previous years, while 70 people were stopped by the Port Authority police.[49]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: The landmark bridge is seen in many movies set in New York, mostly in establishing shots. The bridge is featured, along with the nearby Little Red Lighthouse, in Hildegarde Swift's 1942 children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. The bridge is also featured in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose, Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco, and Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil. On Sesame Street, Ernie often sang the words "George Washington Bridge" to the tune of Sobre las Olas ("The Loveliest Night of the Year").

text: In the 1976 film Network, the character Max Schumacher (William Holden) tells a funny story to his friend Howard Beale (Peter Finch), in which the young Schumacher, who overslept for a news shoot about the new lower deck at the bridge, gets into a cab wearing a raincoat over his pajamas and tells the cabbie to: "Take me to the middle of the George Washington Bridge." The cabbie, concerned that Schumacher intended to jump from the bridge, turns around and begs him: "Don't do it buddy! You're a young man! You got your whole life ahead of you!"[50]


document_title: Mens sana in corpore sano

question_text: healthy mind lives in healthy body who said

text: Mens sana in corpore sano

text: Look up mens sana in corpore sano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

text: Mens sana in corpore sano is a Latin phrase, usually translated as "a healthy mind in a healthy body". The phrase is widely used in sporting and educational contexts to express the theory that physical exercise is an important or essential part of mental and psychological well-being.

text: History[edit]

text: The phrase comes from Satire X of the Roman poet Juvenal (10.356). It is the first in a list of what is desirable in life:

text:
English translation:

You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Ask for a stout heart that has no fear of death,
and deems length of days the least of Nature's gifts
that can endure any kind of toil,
that knows neither wrath nor desire and thinks
the woes and hard labors of Hercules better than
the loves and banquets and downy cushions of Sardanapalus.
What I commend to you, you can give to yourself;
For assuredly, the only road to a life of peace is virtue.

text:
In original Latin:

orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano.
fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem,
qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat
naturae, qui ferre queat quoscumque labores,
nesciat irasci, cupiat nihil et potiores
Herculis aerumnas credat saevosque labores
et venere et cenis et pluma Sardanapalli.
monstro quod ipse tibi possis dare; semita certe
tranquillae per virtutem patet unica vitae.

—Roman poet Juvenal (10.356-64)

text: Traditional commentators believe that Juvenal's intention was to teach his fellow Roman citizens that in the main, their prayers for such things as long life are misguided. That the gods had provided man with virtues which he then lists for them.

text: Over time and separated from its context, the phrase has come to have a range of meanings. It can be construed to mean that only a healthy mind can lead to a healthy body, or equally that only a healthy body can produce or sustain a healthy mind. Its most general usage is to express the hierarchy of needs: with physical and mental health at the root.

text: An earlier, similar saying is attributed to the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales:

text: Usages[edit]

text:
Usage in other writings

John Locke (1632–1704) uses the phrase in his book Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
Heinrich von Treitschke used this phrase in his work titled The Army. He uses the phrase to highlight a sound principle of his German nationalistic doctrine. His work echoes the principles of late nineteenth century Prussian society.
Dr. K. Keyer, leader of the Public Health Council of the Netherlands during the Second World War, used the phrase as goal for public health care.[2]

Usage as the motto of athletic clubs:

Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
Georgetown Hoyas
R.S.C. Anderlecht
The Turners Organization American Turners[3] and their local organizations like the Los Angeles turners.[4]
Carlton Football Club
Asociacion Atletica Argentinos Juniors
The Israeli Institute of Technology athletics teams
Mens Sana Basket
Beale Gaelic Football Club from County Kerry
Torrens Rowing Club
Sydney Rowing Club

Usage as the motto of military institutions:

Royal Marines physical training instructors (PTI).
Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia
Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia
Army Physical Training Corps (APTC)
PERI (Physical Education & Recreation Instructors), which is part of the Canadian Military
New Zealand Defence Force Physical Training Instructors.

Usage as the motto of educational institutions:

Windham High School (Ohio)
Hiranandani Foundation School, Mumbai, India
Teacher's College of Columbia University has this phrase engraved on its Horace Mann hall, on 120th Street in New York City
The University College London Men's Rugby Football Club, Based out of the Bloomsbury in London
Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Hospital, Mumbai
Widener University and the State University of New York at Buffalo
The phrase appears in stone on the western facade of the HPER (School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation) at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana
The phrase appears in stone above the entranceway to the Athletic Center at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick
Albert Schweitzer Pastoral Medicine Institute
Dhaka Physical Education College in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Sparta High School in Sparta, New Jersey
Charleston Female Seminary
Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan
Erskine Academy in South China, Maine
Roger Bacon High School, St. Bernard, Ohio
Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture, Australia
Bridgewater Junior Senior High School in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
Kongsbakken videregående skole in Tromsø, Norway
Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Canada
Polish Association of Sport named SOKÓŁ before World War I. Poland, Galicja in that time Austria
The Internado Nacional Barros Arana in Santiago, Chile.
Used as a line in the school song of Bangor Grammar School, in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.
Used as motto for Lundsbergs skola, an elite school in Sweden.
Used as motto for Foxcroft School, an all-girls' boarding school in Middleburg, Virginia.
Westholme School, an independent school set on the edge of the countryside of Blackburn, England
Loyola High School in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Usage in other cases:

The phrase was a favorite of Harry S. Truman former President of the United States of America.
The sports equipment company Asics takes its name from an acronym of a variant: "anima sana in corpore sano" 'a healthy soul in a healthy body'.
Mensa, the High IQ Society, derives its name both from the Latin word for table, "mensa" as well as a pun on the phrase "mens sana".
Sound Body Sound Mind, a United States nonprofit organization (501(c)(3) that promotes self-confidence and healthy lifestyle choices among children.


document_title: Patrick Thomas O'Brien

question_text: who played mr dewey on saved by the bell

text: Patrick Thomas O'Brien

text:
Patrick Thomas O'BrienBorn
January 26, 1951 (1951-01-26) (age 67)Wisconsin U.S.Occupation
Actor

text: Patrick Thomas O'Brien (born January 26, 1951) is an American actor.  He is perhaps best known for playing the role of Mr. Dewey, the math teacher from Saved by the Bell.

text: Life and career[edit]

text: O'Brien was born in Wisconsin and graduated from Regis High School in Eau Claire.  He then attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire receiving his B.A. in 1975.  O'Brien has appeared in several films including Stuart Little, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Catch Me If You Can and Kiss the Girls.  Despite several movie appearances, the majority of O'Brien's career has centered on television.  To name just a few T.V. shows, he has appeared on Monk, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Gilmore Girls, The West Wing, Baywatch, Boston Common and Home Improvement.  His most notable quote from Saved By The Bell was, "Neil!  Don't mess with the 'Dew-Man'!"