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DYK: The Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) is the oldest office at NIST?
NIST OWM’s principal mandate to “fix the standard of weights and measures” is explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution. The function of the "Office of Weights and Measures" began in 1836 with the distribution of the first U.S. weights and measures standards to the states. Throughout the 1800s, the Office was renamed several times, and in 1901, it was renamed the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), originally under the U.S. Treasury Department. This makes the Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) the oldest office at NIST. Learn more About OWM here.
DYK: OWM provided the foundation of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, now NIST)?
What is also not well known is that a critical need for accurate weights and measures (and other standards) over the 1800s prompted the U.S. Congress (on March 3, 1901) to transform the “Office of Standard Weights and Measures” into NBS as the U.S. National Metrology Institute (NMI). In 1988, NBS was renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Learn more about the History of OWM and NIST’s History of Standards here.
DYK: Weights and measures support approximately half of the U.S. economy?
At OWM, we are mindful of the Office's significant history and the roles and responsibilities that come with it. We are also very proud of the present-day importance of our weights and measures function in providing foundational metrology training services for NIST as the U.S. National Metrology Institute (NMI) and in underpinning a large portion of the U.S. economy.
DYK: NIST’s role extends beyond the U.S. with a significant global impact?
NIST’s chief metrologist, James Olthoff, recently explained how NIST, as the U.S. NMI, is part of a harmonized international measurement system that contributes to trust in consumer products and goods, new technologies, and global trade. See also NIST's recent blog From Safer Skies to Fewer Fires: 10 Ways NIST Impacts Your Daily Life for understandable examples of how NIST’s measurements are important for the U.S. and the world.