Things You Didn't Know About the Mile
From Roman soldiers to the four-minute barrier, the mile is full of surprises
The mile is one of the most familiar units of distance in the English-speaking world, yet its history is far richer — and stranger — than most people realize. Here are some of the most fascinating facts about this ancient unit of measurement.
The Roman Origins
The word "mile" comes from the Latin mille passus, meaning "a thousand paces." A Roman passus was not a single step but a double step — the distance from where one foot hits the ground to where that same foot lands again. Each pace measured roughly 5 Roman feet (about 4.86 modern feet), making the Roman mile approximately 4,856 modern feet — noticeably shorter than today's 5,280-foot statute mile.
Roman soldiers were trained to march in consistent, measured steps, turning the mille passus into one of the earliest standardized distance measurements. Stone markers called milliaria were placed along Roman roads at each mile interval. Some of these ancient milestones survive to this day, scattered across former empire territory from Britain to North Africa.
The Milliarium Aureum (Golden Milestone), erected by Emperor Augustus around 20 BC in the Roman Forum, was considered the symbolic point from which all distances in the Empire were measured — the literal origin of the phrase "all roads lead to Rome."
Why Exactly 5,280 Feet?
The number 5,280 is not arbitrary. It comes from a deliberate compromise made in Elizabethan England involving an agricultural unit called the furlong.
English farmers had long used the furlong ("furrow long") as a key unit — it was the length of a furrow in one acre of a ploughed field, standardized at 660 feet. The problem was that the inherited Roman-era English mile of roughly 5,000 feet divided awkwardly by 660 — you'd get about 7.58 furlongs per mile, an ugly number for a farming society.
In 1593, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Parliament passed a statute redefining the mile as exactly 8 furlongs:
8 × 660 = 5,280 feet
The full chain of units works out neatly:
| Unit | Equals | In Feet |
|---|---|---|
| 1 rod (pole/perch) | — | 16.5 ft |
| 1 chain | 4 rods | 66 ft |
| 1 furlong | 10 chains | 660 ft |
| 1 mile | 8 furlongs | 5,280 ft |
The rod of 16.5 feet itself has origins in medieval agriculture — it supposedly corresponded to the total length of the ox-goads (poles) used by a team of ploughmen.
Bonus fact: The number 5,280 is mathematically interesting — it has 46 divisors, making it highly divisible. It can be evenly divided by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 20, 22, and many more. This high divisibility made it extremely practical in an era before decimal calculation was widespread.
Not All Miles Are Created Equal
Throughout history, the word "mile" has referred to wildly different distances depending on where you were. Here's how various historical miles compare:
| Mile Type | Length (feet) | Length (meters) | vs. Statute Mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman mile | ~4,856 | ~1,480 | 0.92× (shorter) |
| Statute mile | 5,280 | 1,609.344 | 1.00× (standard) |
| Scottish mile | ~5,928 | ~1,807 | 1.12× longer |
| Irish mile | 6,720 | ~2,048 | 1.27× longer |
| Nautical mile | 6,076 | 1,852 | 1.15× longer |
| German mile (Meile) | ~24,000 | ~7,532 | 4.68× longer |
| Scandinavian mile (mil) | 32,808 | 10,000 | 6.21× longer |
Some standouts:
- The Irish mile was used in Ireland until the 19th century. At 6,720 feet, it was roughly 27% longer than the statute mile. When an Irishman said "it's only a mile down the road," they meant a considerably longer walk.
- The Scottish mile (~1,807 m) was abolished after the Acts of Union in 1707 unified Scotland and England.
- The German geographical mile was defined as 1/15 of a degree of latitude, making it about 4.68 times the statute mile.
- The Scandinavian mile (mil) is still in everyday use in Sweden and Norway today. It was simply redefined as exactly 10 kilometers, making it one of the few traditional units to survive metrication. When a Swede says something is "3 mil away," they mean 30 km.
- The nautical mile (1,852 m) is based on Earth's geometry — one nautical mile equals one minute of arc of latitude. It remains the standard for maritime and air navigation worldwide.
- The U.S. survey mile was approximately 3.2 millimeters longer than the international statute mile, due to a slightly different foot definition used in geodetic surveys. It was officially retired on January 1, 2023.
The Exact Metric Conversion
By international agreement since 1959, one mile equals exactly:
1 mile = 1,609.344 meters
This is not an approximation — it is an exact value, defined by the relationship between the international yard (0.9144 meters exactly) and the mile (1,760 yards).
The Mile in Sports
The Four-Minute Barrier
Breaking the four-minute mile was one of the 20th century's most iconic sporting achievements. For decades, it was considered a near-impossible human limit — some physiologists speculated the human body was physically incapable of sustaining that speed over that distance.
Roger Bannister shattered the barrier on May 6, 1954, at Iffley Road track in Oxford, England, running 3:59.4. He was a 25-year-old medical student who trained during lunch breaks. Remarkably, just 46 days later, Australian John Landy ran 3:57.9 — proving how much of the barrier was psychological.
Since then, over 1,600 athletes have broken four minutes. The current records:
| Record | Athlete | Time | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's world record | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) | 3:43.13 | July 7, 1999 | Rome |
| Women's world record | Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) | 4:12.33 | June 2, 2023 | Florence |
The "Metric Mile"
In track and field, the 1,500-meter race is often informally called the "metric mile" — but it's actually about 109 meters short of a true mile (roughly 93.2%). The actual mile race (1,609.34 m) is still contested as a separate event, particularly in American and British athletics. It is the only non-metric distance for which World Athletics recognizes official world records.
The Furlong Lives On
While largely obsolete, the furlong (1/8 of a mile, or 220 yards) is still the standard unit of distance in horse racing worldwide. When a commentator describes a race distance in furlongs, they're using a unit that traces directly back to medieval English ploughing.
Countries That Still Use Miles
Only a handful of countries officially use miles for road distances:
| Country/Territory | Notes |
|---|---|
| United States | The most prominent holdout; road signs, speed limits, and everyday distances are in miles |
| United Kingdom | A fascinating hybrid — road signs and speed limits use miles and mph, but most other measurements are metric |
| Liberia | Gradually moving toward metrication |
| Myanmar | Also transitioning to metric |
| Various British and U.S. territories | Cayman Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc. |
The rest of the world — over 190 countries — uses kilometers. The UK is a particularly interesting case: British people commonly measure their height in feet and inches, their weight in stone and pounds, and distances in miles, but buy fuel in liters and food in grams.
Miles by the Numbers
Here are some surprising numerical facts:
- Earth's circumference is approximately 24,901 miles, meaning one degree of latitude is roughly 69 miles.
- The Moon is about 238,855 miles from Earth on average. Light covers that distance in about 1.28 seconds.
- Light travels at approximately 186,282 miles per second, or about 670 million mph.
- Denver, Colorado is called the "Mile High City" because its official elevation is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. A marker on the 13th step of the Colorado State Capitol building sits at that precise altitude.
- The Romans built approximately 250,000 miles of roads across their empire, of which about 50,000 miles were stone-paved. Many modern European roads still follow these ancient Roman routes.
- The average American drives roughly 13,500 miles per year. At that rate, it would take about 74 years to drive one million miles.
The Mile in Everyday Language
The mile is so deeply woven into English that we barely notice it in our idioms:
- "Go the extra mile" — do more than expected
- "A miss is as good as a mile" — a near miss is still a miss
- "Miles away" — distracted or distant
- "Milestone" — a significant event (from the literal Roman road markers)
Every time you use one of these phrases, you're channeling two thousand years of measurement history — from Roman soldiers counting their paces to Elizabethan lawmakers arguing over furlongs. The mile may not be the most logical unit of distance, but it is undeniably one of the most human.