Originally Posted by John Galt
A statute mile (called that by Act of Parliament, I think under Queen Elizabeth I) is 5280 feet, supposedly, it's the length of 1000 paces by a Roman legionaire...which make no sense
A mile -
mille pasuum in Latin - was, as you say, 1000 paces (a pace is two steps), which was 5000 feet. The British also measured in furlongs, which are 660 feet. When they were standardizing the mile, they wound up with a measure near the Roman
mille pasuum, but exactly 8 furlongs.
The metric system makes a lot of sense, but hasn't got anywhere near the charm of the old system.