<P> In 1799 the meter became the official unit of length in France . This was not fully enforced, and in 1812 Napoleon introduced the system of mesures usuelles which restored the traditional French measurements in the retail trade, but redefined them in terms of metric units . The foot, or pied métrique, was defined as one third of a meter . This unit continued in use until 1837 . </P> <P> In southwestern Germany in 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was founded and three different reformed feet were defined, all of which were based on the metric system: </P> <Ul> <Li> In Hesse, the Fuß (foot) was redefined as 25 cm . </Li> <Li> In Baden, the Fuß was redefined as 30 cm . </Li> <Li> In the Palatinate, the Fuß was redefined as being ​ 33 ⁄ cm (as in France). </Li> </Ul> <Li> In Hesse, the Fuß (foot) was redefined as 25 cm . </Li>

How tall is 5 feet 3 inches in meters