The Interesting Origins Of Length And Distance Measurements

Article Category: Units

Most people can show you how long a meter is and at a push tell you how many miles there are to a kilometer, this is all most of us need to remember. However, there are many more forms of measurement that date back thousands of years and which are still in use today.

Many things which we take for granted, such as the width of the average road or railway track, are thought to owe their origins to horses and specifically, the size of their asses. The Roman Empire built the first long distance roads throughout Europe, along which they would drive chariots, pulled by two horses, side by side.

As the army travelled throughout Europe it left ruts in the road and people were keen to build their own wagons to fit in with these so that they weren’t damaged. When it then came to building train lines and the wagons to be used on them centuries later, people used the same tools they had been using to create road wagons, which in turn dictated the width of the railway tracks. All of this from the width of two horses asses. Even goods containers, like barrels, derive their size from the fact they’d need to be transported on wagons whose size relates to equine posteriors. It even affected the design of the Space Shuttle, because the booster rockets could only be delivered to NASA by rail!

Many other units of measurement originate from quirky beginnings, such as the chain. Back in 1620 Edmund Gunter devised a system using a chain with 100 links. This 22 yard measurement became known as ‘Gunter’s Chain’ and was used to measure distance, mainly in surveying work. The big advantage of using a chain was that, being made of metal, it didn’t stretch, which meant it could be relied on for accuracy. It is now only used on the UK’s railway system to identify locations and to measure the length of cricket pitches.

Body parts were a popular method of measurement in days gone-by, as without rulers it was a case of using what you had. Many claim the yard was derived from the girth of a person’s waist and others believe it was invented by England’s Henry I as a distance between the tip of his nose and the end of his thumb. The foot is thought to come from the measurement of a man’s foot and a hand is actually the measurement of a person’s little finger to their outstretched thumb. Even the modern, humble centimeter is often referred to as the width of an adult’s fingernail.

The word fathom is derived from the Old English word for ‘outstretched arms’ and is the measurement from fingernail to fingernail of a person with outstretched arms. It is traditionally used to measure depths of water and interestingly, being buried six-foot under comes from one of the original varying fathom sizes.

What about some of the more interesting units of measurement that most of us certainly don’t have the need to use everyday? Printers use twips as a minute unit of measurement and picas for their larger needs. Twips are also used as a measurement in computing. Parsecs are used in astronomy and dekameters are used to altitude in relation to the earth’s mean sea level.

There are so many things in this world that need to be measured accurately that it makes sense we should have so many forms of measurement. Throughout the centuries as people struggled to find units of measurements to meet their needs, and with little standardized application of them within countries, let alone internationally, this could help to explain why why we are left with a smorgasbord of measuring practices that range from mere dots to mind-boggling parsecs.

The Converter Site offers a wide range of unit conversion tools, helping you to convert between all sorts of different imperial and metric units.

Written by Soraya Ebrahimi-Calik