In 1798, French scientists determined that the meter would be measured as 1/10,000,000th the distance from the North Pole to the Equator. After calculating this distance, scientists made a platinum-iridium bar with two marks precisely one meter apart. This standard was used until 1960. Today the meter is defined using the second and the speed of light. One meter is the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 seconds.