Why are there 5280 feet in a mile? Who decided that?

Answer by  Att4372 (1704)

In ancient Rome, a mile was 1000 paces. The Latin translation is milia (1000) passum (paces). The shorter English version is milia or simply "mile". A pace is just over 5 feet. When the English measurement system was developed, a "foot" was the length of a human foot. The miles posts on Roman roads in Britain were 5280 "feet" apart.

Answer by  kbbaybee16 (350)

Why are there 5280 feet in a mile? Who decided that? Because there are 660 feet in a furlong and a mile is 8 furlongs. The old english system had a passel of units that went back in various forms to Romans and Greeks and Egyptians. enjoy the information i have provided