Yard (yd) Conversions
The yard (Symbol: yd) is an English unit of length, in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement, that comprises 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it is by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9144 meters. 1,760 yards is equal to 1 mile. The name derives from the Old English gerd, gyrd etc. which was used for branches, staves, and measuring rods.
One of the oldest yard-rods in existence is the clothyard of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors. In 1758 the legislature required the construction of a standard yard, which was made from the Royal Society's standard and was deposited with the clerk of the House of Commons; it was divided into feet, one of the feet into inches, and one of the inches into tenths. The yard is used as the standard unit of field-length measurement in American, Canadian and association football, cricket pitch dimensions, and in some countries, golf fairway measurements.