How did,, who ever,, come up with furlongs for distance?

Question

just have not seen it used eisewhare

Answer 1

A furlong was originally the length of a furrow in a common field, regarded as a square and containing 10 acres.  220 yards x 220 yards = 48400 sq yards = 10 acres. A chain, the length of a cricket pitch is one tenth of a furlong i.e. 22 yards.

Answer 2

it was made for horseracing, just like you measure a horse with "hands". many systems of measurement were made for all different kinds of things, such as "knots" for a boat or plane's speed

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furlong

"A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units. It is equal to one-eighth of a mile or 660 feet or 201.168 metres."

"Distances for thoroughbred horse races in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States are still given in miles and furlongs (example), but the unit is otherwise no longer in common use. It is heavily used within the rail industry (especially maintenance and repair services) in the UK, due to the legacy measurements and distance markers from when the tracks were first laid down (see milestone)."