Both, nautical mile and metre are derived from earth’s dimensions: One nautical mile is an arc second at the equator, i.e. its circumference is 360·60 NM. One metre originally was 1/40000 of the circumference through the poles (or 1/10000 of the distance from a pole to the equator).
Those are actually much saner: 10 cables in a nautical mile and 100 fathoms in a cable.
Both, nautical mile and metre are derived from earth’s dimensions: One nautical mile is an arc second at the equator, i.e. its circumference is 360·60 NM. One metre originally was 1/40000 of the circumference through the poles (or 1/10000 of the distance from a pole to the equator).