Why are there 5280 feet in a mile? (2009)
&gt; The problem with these versions is that they don’t explain why this collision between furlong and mile occurred around 1600, and not centuries before. It implies, therefore, that people suddenly woke up and realized, hey, wait a second, if there’s 660 feet in a furlong … and eight furlongs in a mile … but 5000 feet in a mile …. wait a second !?!<p>It&#x27;s not <i>that</i> hard to guess why the broken system lasted so long (delightful and interesting explanation of TFA notwithstanding), and consequently why it was replaced by a different broken system.<p>95% of people on this planet use, understand, and advocate metric, in which an area of 100 metres x 100 metres = 1 hectare (10,000 sq m).<p>A 10 x 10 grid of hectares = a square kilometre.<p>A millimetre of rain falling across one hectare means you&#x27;ve received 10,000 litres of water.<p>That volume of water has a mass of 10,000 kilograms (or 10 tonne).<p>Wait a second, indeed!