The Almanac

October 21

One thing science and human progress accomplished on this date.

  1. 1983

    The meter is redefined by the speed of light

    The world's measurement authorities redefined the meter as the distance light travels in a vacuum in one 299,792,458th of a second. The unit of length was no longer a metal bar in a vault near Paris but a fact of nature anyone with the right equipment could reproduce exactly. It fixed the speed of light forever.

    Source: Wikipedia

Browse every day in The Almanac →

The next breakthrough is happening now.

We send you the day's real progress every morning: the discoveries, the quiet wins, the proof it's still happening. Free, forever.