Why is a mile 5,280 feet instead of an even number like 5,000?

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Karen Hill

A mile is 5,280 feet instead of an even number like 5,000 and you can blame it on the Tudors and their fondness for the furlong.

The mile was originally 5,000 feet, but Queen Elizabeth I wanted it divisible by a furlong.

Each furlong measured exactly 220 yards, so in 1575 she made it a royal decree that the mile would officially grow 280 more feet, making it exactly 8 furlongs.

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