==Statute Mile==
In the reign of Queen [[Elizabeth I]] of [[England]], the mile was decreed by a Statute of Parliament to be 5280 feet long or 320 rods and is therefore known as a '''statute mile'''.<ref>http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/custom.html</ref> This measure is still used mainly in the [[USA]] and [[UK]]. There has been widespread resistance in [[America]] and [[Britain]] to use the metric system, and which continues to this day.
The '''international statute mile''' was defined in 1960 as being 1760 yards (or 1,609.344 metres<ref>http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm#4b</ref>) long with one inch (1/36 yard) being set at exactly 25.4 millimetres. This means that 1 metre is 39.3700787 inches.