Miles, pounds, gallons etc. are all called "Imperial Measures" and are a gift from the Brits.
In fact, there was quite a row a few years back when British butchers had to replace their imperial scales with metric ones.
Personally, as much as I dislike the French, the metric system is far superior to imperial. It is a shame it has never really taken off in our country. The only Americans who use the metric system are scientists and drug dealers.