The British Standard was adopted in the early 1840s in Britain and quickly spread. An historian of the industrial revolution and later would be one to ask.
I think the adoption of the British Standard in the US happened slowly but may trace it's roots to gunnery and the need for standard parts for artillery in the years prior to the American Civil War, as both "sides" were militarizing. The interesting part is that while the Union may have adopted BSW prior to the Civil War, the Confederacy were buying their arms directly from the British, as their standard issue rifle was the 1853 Enfield with some units receiving the 1861 Enfield carbine. The Union did use the Enfield, but the Springfield Arsenal was well within Union territory in New England, so production wouldn't have been affected by direct combat action. I don't think the Confederacy had a large scale production line of weapons.
Anyway, as technology often trickles down from military applications, I think the BS just stuck in most parts of industry until the 1970s. I was born in the 70s though, so I don't have nearly as much experience as those who have worked through what were my early years. I'm just a history nerd.
Phil Forrest