On April 7, 1875, the Meter Convention was signed by 17 countries, including the Russian Empire. The French government, by Decree of 1873, was the first to oblige citizens to use a new system of measures when conducting all types of commercial transactions. Platinum prototypes of the meter and kilogram were finally approved in 1799 and transferred to the National Archives of the country for storage. April 7 became a holiday - Metric Day.