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Length/Distance | Convert from cable [British] to mark twain |
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Common Length Conversions Metric Length Conversions Unit Definition (cable [British]) The cable is a unit of distance formerly used at sea. The traditional U.S. cable was equal to 120 fathoms, 720 feet, 0.1185 nautical mile, or about 219.4 meters. The British Admiralty, in 1830, defined the cable to equal exactly 0.1 nautical (Admiralty) mile, which is 608 feet or about 185.3 meters. The cable is also sometimes now defined as a metric cable, which is equal to exactly 200 meters. Unit Definition (mark twain) The mark twain or twain is an old word for the number two, derived from the Anglo-Saxon twegen. The American author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), who had been a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi in his youth, took his literary name from a traditional riverboat phrase "mark twain", meaning "exactly two" fathoms of water. This was the minimum depth needed for the boats to operate safely without running aground.
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