The gill is a unit of volume in the imperial unit system and uses the symbol gi.
It represents 1/4 of a pint - so in this instance, it is 1/4 of an imperial pint - therefore measures exactly 142.0653125 ml. It's also equal to 2 imperial cups and 1/32 of an imperial gallon.
It is pronounced with a "J" sound at the beginning - and it actually part of a humorous in the nursery rhyme 'Jack & Jill'.
In the UK it was used throughout pubs as standard measures; for example spirits were served as 1/6 gill as standard. In Scotland it was 1/5 gill and in Ireland 1/4 gill. It's still used in the Republic of Ireland today.
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'.