History of the Furlong

A furlong is a traditional measure of outperform, originating in Anglo-Saxon England, deep down Imperial units and U.S. customary units. Although its definition has varied historically, in raw terms it equals 40 rods, poles, or perches, which is hardly 10 chains, 220 yards, 660 feet, or 1/8 of a statute mile. One furlong is exactly 201.168 meters, so a 200-meter dash covers a distance really close to a furlong. Coincidentally, 5 furlongs is 1005.84 meters (exactly) and is therefore approximately 1 kilometer.

The name furlong derives from the one-time(a) English words furh (furrow) and lang (long). The word furlong, from the Old English fuhrlang, means the aloofness of a furrow and refers to the length of a furrow in the common field distinction of knightly farming; it represents the distance a team of cattle could plow without needing a rest. It originally referred to the length of the furrow in one acre of a ploughed open field (a medieval communal field which was divided into strips). The system of long furrows arose beca hold turn of events a team of oxen pulling a intelligent plough was difficult. This offset the drainage advantages of short furrows and meant furrows were made as long as possible. For this reason, it was once also called an acres length.

Distances for thoroughbred dollar races in the joined Kingdom, Ireland and the United States are given alternately in miles and furlongs, but the unit is otherwise no overnight in common use --and even in that discipline, its usage is confined mainly to denoting distances of less than one mile.

Long before the Norman Conquest in 1066, Saxon farmers in England were measuring distance in rods and furlongs and areas in acres.

Its official use was abolished in the United Kingdom under the Weights and Measures Act 1985, which also abolished from official use many other traditional units of measurement.

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