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When did 1billion become smaller?

Question

A billion used to be one million million. Now it’s one thousand million. When and how did it change?
Tony, Bromley

Answer

** Definitive **
Name: Peter, Dulwich
Qualification: Maths tutor
Answer: When I went to school in the 50s, you have a million – six zeroes. Then a bi-million (a billion) which was 12 zeroes and a tri-million (trillion) which was 18 zeroes. But the Americans in the 1970s like the idea of a thousand million being a billion as it was a more achievable number and that just became adopted by this country as well. It’s a shame as it doesn’t make sense in English.

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