The Treaty of the Metre and Its Surprising Connection to Social Security Records
The Treaty of the Metre, also known as the Metre Convention or Metric Convention of 1875, stands as one of the most important agreements in the history of measurement. Signed on May 20, 1875, by several nations, this treaty aimed to standardize units of length and mass worldwide. It established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the agency responsible for maintaining and improving the International System of Units (SI). By ensuring that measurements such as the meter and the kilogram remain consistent across the globe, this historic accord spurred significant progress in science, engineering, and commerce, ultimately paving the way for modern global collaboration.
Unexpectedly, the date of May 20, 1875, also found its way into the realm of 20th-century programming. In certain older versions of COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), this date became the baseline or “epoch” from which other dates were calculated. Specifically, some COBOL-based systems used May 20, 1875, to measure the number of days elapsed. When these outdated systems were integrated into vital institutions such as the U.S. Social Security Administration’s database, a quirk emerged: if someone’s birth date was not recorded or left blank, the system would default to May 20, 1875. This curiosity has occasionally led people to find “official” records showing them to be well over 100 years old when, in reality, they simply did not have a valid date on file.
Background: The Need for Measurement Standardization
Before the mid-19th century, there was little consistency in the measurement systems used around the world. Each region had its own definitions for units like pounds, yards, or even localized versions of the meter, making it exceptionally difficult to compare or trade goods and services reliably across different territories. Scientists, governments, and industrialists recognized that an accurate, universal system was essential for fair trade and for precise scientific work. Thus, the push to create a single, globally accepted measurement framework gained momentum.
France pioneered the metric system in the late 18th century, introducing decimal-based units that scaled neatly by powers of ten. However, for the metric system to become a true global standard, international agreements and institutions would be needed to ensure uniform definitions and enforcement. This necessity set the stage for the Treaty of the Metre, a landmark agreement that reached across national boundaries.
The Signing of the Treaty of the Metre
On May 20, 1875, delegates from 17 countries convened to sign what came to be known as the Metre Convention. This historic pact not only solidified the metric system but also founded the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). Located in Sèvres, France, the BIPM was entrusted with safeguarding the original prototypes of the meter and kilogram, serving as the global reference point for these standards. Over time, more countries joined, expanding the treaty’s influence to encompass nearly the entire world.
Initially, the main focus was on harmonizing physical references for length and mass. Over the years, though, the scope of the BIPM’s work broadened. Today, it governs standards for multiple base units, including time, electric current, temperature, and more. Periodic updates to the definitions—such as redefining the meter in terms of the speed of light—ensure that measurement standards remain firmly anchored in the latest scientific understanding.
The Treaty’s Ongoing Significance
Standardized measurements ushered in a new era for commerce, engineering, and scientific research. With consistent definitions, industries could manufacture and trade parts and products worldwide without worrying about mismatched measurements. Laboratories in different countries could compare results confidently, knowing they were using the same measuring sticks, literally and figuratively.
Furthermore, the treaty exemplifies the spirit of international cooperation. Like railroad gauge standardization or cross-border telecommunication agreements, the Metre Convention showed how nations could come together to solve a universal problem. This spirit of collaboration persisted, influencing the creation of other international bodies and treaties aimed at fostering unity in areas such as health, aviation, and maritime law.
COBOL and the Epoch Date of May 20, 1875
In the mid-to-late 20th century, computers became vital to the operations of large organizations. COBOL, developed in the late 1950s, was one of the earliest high-level programming languages designed for business tasks. Many government agencies, including the U.S. Social Security Administration, adopted COBOL for its stability and robust data-handling features, especially for financial calculations.
However, old COBOL systems needed an epoch date—a fixed point in time from which days or other increments could be counted. While some programmers chose January 1, 1900, or January 1, 1970 (the famous Unix epoch), certain COBOL systems opted for May 20, 1875. Historians and software experts suggest that the choice may have been influenced by the date’s importance in international standards. Another theory is that a software vendor or institution happened to use that date in an early implementation, which then got copied and reused over decades without thorough revision.
Regardless of how May 20, 1875, became an epoch in COBOL, the result is that these older systems store dates as the number of days after May 20, 1875. Unfortunately, I don’t know how Social Security stores things and consequently, if a record is missing a proper date entry, the numeric field defaults to zero, null, or maybe possible days from may 20th 1875 the base date. The claims of 200-300 years old are impossible. Max Possible right now is 149 years 278 days and like 21 hours.
The Social Security Administration’s Legacy Systems
The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) is among the major agencies still operating significant portions of their workload on older COBOL systems. Given the complexity and costs of migration, these legacy systems often remain in place longer than one might expect. To mitigate risks, agencies will sometimes choose to maintain rather than replace these systems, because a full-scale upgrade can be expensive, error-prone, and time-consuming.
Whenever a birth date is unknown or not entered correctly, the SSA’s database reverts to the epoch date. This can lead to anomalies in official records, causing confusion if someone sees their “official” birth date listed as May 20, 1875. In practice, workers at the SSA recognize this date for what it is—a placeholder—yet it still occasionally causes misunderstandings when data is shared externally or accessed by individuals who don’t know about the default setting.
| Sample Date Calculations | |
|---|---|
| Start Date | May 20, 1875 |
| End Date | February 22, 2025 |
| Elapsed Days | 54,700 i |
| Approx. Years | 149 years, 278 days, 16 hours i |
Figures are approximate, assuming midnight-to-midnight calculation.
Why May 20, 1875, as an Epoch?
Some might wonder why COBOL programmers or their supervisors chose an epoch date reaching so far back in time. Often, the specifics of these decisions were lost to history. One possibility is a desire to pay homage to an internationally significant date associated with measurement standards. Another theory holds that an early system simply locked onto the date to align with a specific database or technical requirement, and it became entrenched in subsequent software versions.
In any case, so long as the date calculations remain consistent across the system, it generally does not matter what epoch date is used. The unusual part is that May 20, 1875, is historically significant in a manner that few other computer epoch dates can claim, tying modern data storage practices to a 19th-century milestone in global cooperation.
Relevance to the Latest Social Security Fraud Claims of Elon Musk
Recently, rumors or claims have surfaced online suggesting that Elon Musk might be involved in some form of Social Security fraud or irregularity. While there is no verifiable evidence from official sources substantiating these claims, it’s worth noting how default dates and legacy database quirks can amplify confusion. If, for instance, any individual’s Social Security records contained incomplete or erroneous birth data, the system could automatically default to May 20, 1875. In isolation, this might be mistaken for fraud if someone interprets it literally, especially when high-profile figures are involved.
Elon Musk’s personal details, including his birth date (June 28, 1971), are well documented in a variety of public records. Nevertheless, the speculation surrounding him—and the occasional conspiracy theories—demonstrate how easily misunderstandings can arise. Given the ongoing reliance on older COBOL-based infrastructure, a missing date field might present an incorrect age or create a bizarre inconsistency in an official file. That kind of anomaly could be enough to spark a flurry of rumors about potential fraud.
In reality, placeholder dates in SSA files are a systemic artifact rather than a reflection of any individual’s intent to commit fraud. While it is crucial for the SSA and other agencies to validate and correct inaccurate records, these occurrences generally stem from technological limitations, not willful misuse of the system.
Legacy Systems, Modern Complexities
The reliance on decades-old COBOL code highlights the continuing challenges large institutions face when modernizing their technology stacks. As the workforce of COBOL-trained developers ages, institutional knowledge risks being lost. Integrating advanced software with legacy mainframes can be expensive and time-consuming, hindering swift upgrades. These are also the same factors that contributed to the famous Y2K scare, where the two-digit year format threatened to disrupt systems worldwide.
In the case of the Social Security Administration, an outdated system can still function effectively for day-to-day record-keeping, provided it’s well-maintained. However, as public attention turns to any perceived anomalies—such as the rumored Social Security fraud claims involving Elon Musk—interest grows in understanding how these systems actually work and why a historical date like May 20, 1875, remains so entrenched.
Continuous Refinement of Measurement Standards
While May 20, 1875, acts as a COBOL epoch in some legacy systems, the treaty it references is still undergoing updates in other contexts. The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), established under the Metre Convention, periodically refines the definitions of the SI base units. Notably, the kilogram was redefined in 2019 to tie its measurement to Planck’s constant, rather than a physical metal cylinder. The meter, similarly, is now set in terms of the distance light travels in a vacuum in a specific fraction of a second.
These changes do not affect the historical significance of May 20, 1875, in computing systems, but they do underscore the living, evolving nature of scientific and bureaucratic standards. Where the BIPM continually polishes the accuracy of measurement units, certain software systems remain locked to an older approach, bridging the 19th and 21st centuries in a single line of code.
Illustrative Tables of Date Behavior
Below are a few quick-reference tables showing how these default date behaviors manifest in older COBOL setups. They highlight the difference between an empty or zero value in the database and a properly stored date.
| Placeholder Date Appearance | |
|---|---|
| System Date Field | Days Since May 20, 1875 |
| Value = 0 | May 20, 1875 i |
A zero value in the date field equates to the epoch date, yielding the placeholder date of May 20, 1875.
| Start Date | End Date | SS probably shows | Years (Approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1875 | May 20, 1975 | 36525 | 100 |
| May 20, 1875 | May 20, 2023 | 54015 | 148 |
| May 20, 1875 | February 22, 2025 | 54700 | 149+ i |
These sample calculations are rounded for simplicity. Leap years, time of day, and time zones can slightly alter results.
Conclusion
In tracing the origin of a curious date—May 20, 1875—from a 19th-century international treaty to the modern records of Social Security beneficiaries, we see how history can linger in the most unexpected places. The Treaty of the Metre introduced uniform standards for measurement, facilitating an age of international collaboration and scientific accuracy. Over a century later, programmers creating COBOL systems drew on this pivotal date as a reference point for time calculations, setting the stage for peculiar placeholders in government databases.
When these legacy systems are still in operation, a missing birth date can appear to indicate someone was born 150 years ago. This type of anomaly can invite speculation—such as the recent unverified rumors claiming Elon Musk might have manipulated Social Security information—despite the fact that placeholder dates almost always stem from technological quirks, not fraud. In Musk’s case, no concrete evidence has emerged to substantiate these claims; rather, the broader conversation underscores how easily date-related anomalies can lead to confusion when systems aren’t widely understood.
Ultimately, the story of May 20, 1875, in social security records reminds us that some of our modern complexities arise directly from historical decisions. While the BIPM continues to refine measurement standards, old COBOL systems persist in their own domain, bridging the 19th and 21st centuries. This convergence of data conventions, international treaties, and technological inertia provides a fascinating glimpse into the interplay between past and present—and how a single date can reverberate through centuries of human endeavor.
Sources
- BIPM: The Treaty of the Metre (1875)
- NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology): The International System of Units (SI)
- “Treaty of the Metre”, Encyclopedia Britannica: Britannica Article on the Treaty of the Metre
- https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/44107685/metre-convention.pdf
- https://www.bipm.org/en/official-texts
- govt paper on BIPM