stackyFACTSA nautical mile isn’t just an arbitrary number to confuse landlubbers. It perfectly equals one minute of latitude. It was specifically designed so navigators could easily calculate distance straight off their map grids.
Keep exploring facts in this topic.
Transport →STACKY FOR IPHONEKeep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Well, 24,901 miles to be exact. It’s the ultimate geographical belt line. The planet bulges slightly in the middle due to its rotation, meaning if you walk…
Discover more
Traveling to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere is theoretically a much shorter journey than driving across a large terrestrial state, meaning you could…
Discover more
When you hear "twenty thousand leagues," it sounds incredibly official. But historically, a league was just a lazy estimate. It roughly translates to the…
Discover more
If you hate the imperial system, blame the Romans. "Mile" is derived from "mille passus," which was exactly 1,000 paces by a Roman legionary. It’s entirely…
Discover more
A hemisphere is literally just half a sphere. It’s a conceptual tool invented so mapmakers didn't have to draw both sides of the planet at once. We’ve turned…
Discover more
Why is Greenwich, London the absolute zero of global longitude? Because in 1884, a bunch of diplomats got together and essentially voted on it. The French…
Discover more