The measurement known today as a “mile” is a vestige of the Roman Empire's rule over Britain. During their rule the Romans had a measurement known as “mille pasuum” which was approximately a thousand paces. A pace comprised five, Roman feet. Using a simple mathematical calculation, we arrive at 5,000 feet per mile.

The demise of the Roman Empire left the Britons in a quandary. They now had a mile, consisting of 5,000 feet, and their own agricultural measurement, the furlong, used to measure the farmers' fields for the purpose of property deeds, etc.

Instead of using the Roman foot in calculating the measure of a furlong, they used the distance a horse could pull a plough, in a linear fashion, before the horse needed to rest. The agreed measurement consisted of 660 feet.

The dilemma was that the British wanted to relate the furlong to the Roman mile, but, as they wanted a mile to comprise eight furlongs, totalling 5,280 feet, instead of the Roman 5,000 feet per mile, they had no choice but to select one of the two as the standard.

Unsurprisingly, they chose their measurement over the Roman measurement because, as property deeds at the time were measured in furlongs (660 feet), a change to the Roman system of measurement would take away land from the farmer or landowner.