UK Nautical Miles
Nautical miles measure distance. 1 nautical mile is the angular distance of 1 minute of arc on the earth's surface. As these differ slightly (6108' at pole c.f. 6046' at equator) 6080 was adopted (this being it's approximate value in the English Channel). The International nautical mile is 1852 metres, so is very slightly different from the UK nautical mile.
Chains
Unit of length equal to 66 feet, used especially in the U.S. public land surveys. The original measuring instrument (Gunter's chain) was literally a chain consisting of 100 iron links, each 7.92 inches long. Steel-ribbon tapes began to supersede chains around 1900, but surveying tapes are often still called "chains" and measuring with a tape is often called "chaining". The chain is a convenient unit in cadastral surveys because 10 square chains equal 1 acre.
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