1,000,000,000,000

This is actually a pretty big deal. Problem is, I can't get my computer to link. So, we'll have to do it by hand.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/more_or_less/6625545.stm

That's the news. The Brits have finally agreed with us that a million is one thousand times one thousand, and that a billion is one thousand times...whatever. You get the point.

Now, here's the history:

The short scale dates back to the 17th century, when groupings of numbers by threes (1,234,567,890,123) instead of the older sixes form (1,234567,890123) became common. However, the older long scale (10^6=million, 10^12=billion, 10^18=trillion) continued to be dominant. Milliard, originally a synonym for 10^12, was then re-appropriated by the long scalers to mean 10^9 (sames as the short scale billion)

France then, in the early 19th century, invented the metric system. They adopted the short count at the same time. The result was a harmonization between number names (every factor of a thousand got a new one), metric prefixes (every factor of a thousand got a new one), and written numeral forms (every factor of a thousand added a new group of three).

The U.S. then immediately adopted the short scale in imitation of the French, while ignoring the Metric system. The Italians followed the lead of the French. The British ignored both. The rest of Western Europe adopted the Metric system but kept the long scale, precisely opposite of the U.S. approach.In the 20th Century, France reverted to the long scale, as did the Italians, while the British adopted the metric system, decimalized currency, and the short scale.

At the moment, the English-speaking world has largely been converted to the short scale under American influence following the British lead; the other major short scale users are Brazil and Russia. (Russia uses milliard for 10^9, but calls 10^12 a trillion, so . . .)

Aren't you glad you asked?

(I truly enjoy this stuff.)