Sometimes trivia nails it! The U.S. Standard railroad gauge - the distance between the rails - is 4 feet, 8.5 inches (that's 143.51 centimetres). That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that

Sometimes trivia nails it! The U.S. Standard railroad gauge—the distance between the rails—is 4 feet, 8.5 inches (that’s 143.51 centimeters). That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Well, because that’s the way they built railroads in England, and American railroads were initially built by English expatriates.

But why did the English use that gauge? Because the people who built the first railway lines used the same tools and jigs they had used for building tramways.

Okay, but why did the tramways use that gauge? Because the people who built the tramways used the same standards and tools as those for building wagons.

So why did wagons have that particular wheel spacing? Because old roads across Europe had ruts that were already spaced that way.

And why were the ruts that far apart? Because they were made by Roman chariots, which were designed to fit the width of two warhorses pulling them side by side.

So, the U.S. railroad gauge is 4 feet, 8.5 inches because of the design of an ancient Roman chariot.

And what’s the moral of the story?

If anyone ever questions why something is done a certain way, chances are the answer is, "Because some guys with swords 2,000 years ago thought it was a good idea, and nobody ever bothered to change it!"

Oh, and one more fun fact: when NASA was designing the Space Shuttle, they had to consider the width of the railroad tracks when shipping parts.

So, a modern space-age vehicle, built to carry astronauts into the cosmos, was ultimately limited in design by the backside width of two Roman horses.

And that, my friends, is why tradition is both fascinating and completely ridiculous.