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by throw0101c 263 days ago
> The nautical mile is not an SI unit, so it is not defined by a single organization

"In 1929 the International Hydrographic Bureau obtained an agreement from a large number of countries to adopt a value of 1852 metres for the nautical mile, the unit thus defined to be called the International Nautical Mile."

* https://usma.org/laws-and-bills/adoption-of-international-na...

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Hydrographic_Org...

But there was no treaty or anything with a fancy ceremony, just a 'handshake', and so it was up to each country to adopt it with a domestic law or regulation, which (e.g.) the US did in 1954:

* https://usma.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Nautical-Mile.pd...

Previously in the US it was 1853.25 m (because the US is actually metric "officially": all of its customary units (ft, oz) are defined in terms of metric equivalents):

* https://usma.org/laws-and-bills/mendenhall-order