The gallon is a unit of volume in the imperial unit system with the symbol gal.
1 British imperial gallon is defined as 4.54609 litres or 277.4194 in³.
The term gallon derives directly from the Old Northern French term 'galun' which means 'liquid measure'. The origin of the word prior to this is still unknown. It originated as the base of the system for measuring wine and beer in the UK and has now been adopted across the world and there are similar versions in the US and associated states (although they measure slightly differently).
The litre (or liter; US spelling) is a unit of volume and is a non-SI metric unit with the symbol L).
1 litre is equal to the volume in a cube with edges all measuring 10cm. There are 0.22 imperial gallons in a litre. Conversely, 1 imperial gallon is equal to 4.5461 gallons.
1 litre of water weights exactly 1 kilogram.
After the metric system was introduced in France in 1791, it took a couple of years for the entire country to implement it in everyday use. After much backlash, it was decided that the cubic metre was too big for everyday use. By 1795 it was announced that the former 'cadil' (0.001 cubic metres) had been given a new name; 'litre'.