The international system for units.
Le Systeme international d'Unites officially came into being in October 1960 and has been adopted by nearly all countries, though the amount of actual usage varies considerably.
It is based upon 7 principal units:
Length - meter (m)
Mass - kilogram(kg)
Time - second (s)
Electric current - ampere (A)
Temperature - Kelvin (K)
Amount of substance - mole (mol)
Luminous intensity - candela (cd)
From these basic units many other units are derived and named.

See also Ultrasound Physics.