The whole thing is absolutely mad and most efforts to standardise the systems historically lead to the adoption of the SI unit system for "important" things, as well as a few good intentioned bits of legislation, like the International Yard and Pound agreement [1] which standardised those measures between the US and other former imperial users. Don't get me started on the survey foot, or the hell that arose when the units of classical mechanics, electromagnetism or similar scientific systems had to meet imperial or US customary units...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_yard_and_pound
Well, in the middle ages, the furlong was important, because it was the standard size for farmers' fields (based on how long a furrow an ox could plow without resting). But 8 furlongs didn't fit neatly into a mile, so to make things easier for everybody, the mile got expanded to a nice round 5280 feet, or exactly 8 furlongs.