The litre (or liter; US spelling) is a unit of volume and is a non-SI metric unit with the symbol L).
1 litre is equal to the volume in a cube with edges all measuring 10cm. There are 0.22 imperial gallons in a litre. Conversely, 1 imperial gallon is equal to 4.5461 gallons.
1 litre of water weights exactly 1 kilogram.
After the metric system was introduced in France in 1791, it took a couple of years for the entire country to implement it in everyday use. After much backlash, it was decided that the cubic metre was too big for everyday use. By 1795 it was announced that the former 'cadil' (0.001 cubic metres) had been given a new name; 'litre'.
The cubic yard is a unit of volume derived from the imperial system of units. It uses the symbol yd³.
It equals the volume of a cube with edges that each measure 1 yard. It is equivalent to 27 ft³, 46656 in³ or ≈ 0.764554 m³.
The yard (and derivatives like the cubic yard for example) are the same in both the imperial systems and US customary systems so require less conversion systems to calculate / convert to SI or metric.