Legend has it that the standard distance between the rails in a railroad, the gauge that is, is 4 feet, 8 and a half inches because that’s what it was in England, and it was that distance in England because that was the gap between the ruts in the roads that the Romans built, and the ruts are that far apart because that’s the width between the wheels of a Roman war chariot.

It’s not true, of course, because the Romans didn’t even bring war chariots to England; they had stopped fighting wars with chariots hundreds of years before they ever got to Londinium, as they called it. Still, it’s an interesting idea, precisely because it’s believable—standards live forever.