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Length/Distance | Convert from smoot to feet [international, U.S.] |
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Common Length Conversions Metric Length Conversions Unit Definition (smoot) A smoot is a unit of distance (or "length", as physical scientists say) used for measuring the Harvard Bridge. It is named after an MIT fraternity pledge at Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), who in October, 1958 was rolled head over heels by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the bridge. The smoot is equal to his height (five feet and seven inches -- 1.70 m), and the bridge's length was measured to be "364.4 smoots plus one ear". Unit Definition (feet [international, U.S.]) The human foot has long been a standard unit for the measurement of length. Over history this size has varied from region to region and there is some discrepancy as to an exact standard or origin of the standard measurement for feet that we use today. In England, the Roman foot was replaced after the fall of Rome by the natural foot. The modern foot (1/3 yard or about 30.48 centimeters) did not appear until after the Norman conquest of 1066. It may be an innovation of Henry I, who reigned from 1100 to 1135. Later in the 1100's a foot of modern length, the "foot of St. Paul's," was inscribed on the base of a column of St. Paul's Church in London.
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