Environment Canada’s use of Celsius turns 50 years old in 2025.
It was the catalyst of a lengthy national metric conversion that abruptly ended a decade after it began.
A bone-chilling April Fools’ Day in 1975 marked the first time Canadians used Celsius to measure weather temperature.
I dated an American chick when I was in my 20s, she was working towards a master’s in medical science (research shit, I can’t remember exactly what) and if it didn’t apply specifically to what she was studying she couldn’t do metric. Like one day, mid August, height of a heatwave, I was bitching about the heat, it was something like mid 40°s outside, but we were doing lead abatement so we were in hazmat suits with every seam taped up and inside a containment. So we’re on the phone and I say I’m glad I finally got to go into the lunch area as it was only 36°. She was super confused: But that’s fucking freezing!