Klaas Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 Yeah but I guess independance doesn't mean standardisation. Anyway we need an expert on American history here to clear things up and another topic since we're getting OT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av_nefardec Posted March 9, 2004 Report Share Posted March 9, 2004 What I heard is it depended where they sat on the carriage. If they sat left it was standardized to driving left because then you couldn't hit the pedestrians with your whip lol, I thought it had to do with fending off highwaymen, because if on the left site, the traveler could draw his sword with his right hand. Then afterwards it became a matter of custom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caedus Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 @rohirwine: yup my fault, but Klaas saved me nicely @Adam: I don't understand that: people can also draw their sword on the right side of the road can't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaas Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Swords weren't that popular anymore back then, nor were people so violent on the streets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeros Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Lol, I love all these myths about why America is so different None are really true, just popular thoughts. Why do Americans have the driver's seat on the left? Well, Americans invented cars, didn't they? There were probably some very profoundly good reason for that setup on early car models that no one remembers now.Oh by the way, heres a good joke We American's call our system the "standard system" funny part being that we're the only one's using it. I don't think it was made just for a matter of independance, but rather practicality and also a way to differentiate from other countries, in which a different system of measurement could be advantageous in war/conflicts(and still is today, you would have to pause and spend some time doing math to convert metric to "standard").But most likely I think it was made for practicality, since 1 inch is the size of half of your thumb (your middle thumb joint to the end of your them), and one foot (12 inches) is the size between your shoulder and your elbow (or atleast was back then when people weren't as tall) but it still works, an average person's length between their shoulder and elbow is about 12-14 inches (1 foot is 12 inches remember).A meter (American Meter) is 3 feet, it's close to a Metric meter but not exactly. 1 meter is as big as your leg (both top and bottom parts, your entire leg). Some say it's the distance you make in one big step, but that's not acurate.So there you have it, and yes, divercity/independance probably plays a small role, but it's not the main purpose for making the American measurement system or the other sublte diverences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caedus Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Those measures you give us, were in use, long before America was "discovered" by Columbus. It was used in Europe, and the migrating people took them with them.Then Napoleon conquered almost the whole of Europe and to form a unity of nations he introduced the "metric system" (is it called that way?). America wasn't conquered by Nappi, so naturely he couldn't introduce the measures there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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