units of measurement on altimeters

"S Green" writes:
What about the pieze = 1000 pascals?

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictP.html

pieze (pz)

a metric unit of pressure, part of the "metre-tonne-second" system
sometimes used by European engineers. The pieze is a pressure of
one sthene per square meter, or 1000 newtons per square meter,
or one kilopascal. [...]
The name of the unit comes from the Greek piezein, to press.
The unit, spelled pièze in French, is pronounced "pee-ezz" in English.

Interesting. I had never heard of a metre-tonne-second system
before. Where was it invented and in which fields was it used?

Markus