How Specs Live Forever

The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.
Why did the English people build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old, long distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts.
So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United State standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot. Specs and Bureaucracies live forever.
So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two war horses.

Why Ask Why - 2

• Why are cigarettes sold in gas stations when smoking is prohibited there?
• Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
• Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?
• Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?
• Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?
• You know how most packages say "Open here". What is the protocol if the package says, "Open somewhere else"?
• Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
• You know that little indestructible black box that is used on planes, why can't they make the whole plane out of the same substance?
• Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?

Why Ask Why - 3

• When they ship styrofoam, what do they pack it in?
• If 75% of all accidents happen within 5 miles of home, why not move 10 miles away?
• Why doesn't "onomatopoeia" sound like what it is?
• Why do 'tug'boats push their barges?
• Why do we sing 'Take me out to the ball game', when we are already there?
• Why are they called 'stands' when they're made for sitting?
• Why is there only ONE Monopolies Commission?
• Why does one get in trouble for wreckLESS driving?
• Does a fish get cramps after eating?
• Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?