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Origins of some of our units of measurement:
- A foot was length of
a man’s foot.
-
An inch was the
width of a man’s thumb. King Edward II of England later ruled that an inch was
the length of 3 grains of barley placed end to end lengthwise
-
A cubit was the
distance from one’s elbow to the tip of one’s middle finger.
-
A yard was the
distance from one’s nose to one’s thumb, with the arm outstretched.
-
A hand was the width
of a man’s hand.
-
A fathom was the
distance between the fingertips of a man’s outstretched arms.A rod was the
length of the left feet of 16 men lined up heel to toe.
-
A furlong was the
distance a team of oxen could plow without resting.
-
An acre was the
amount of land a team of oxen could plow in a day.
-
A mile was a
thousand paces—a pace being two steps.
-
A league was the
distance a man could walk in an hour (about three miles).
