The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design

by Roman Mars

“If you need to write the name of what you’re representing on your flag,” asserts Ted Kaye, “your symbolism has failed.”

When asked how he knew this local story of university history, Marr explained that he had read it on a plaque prominently placed right outside the building where he was speaking and that his motto is to “always read the plaque.”

When horseback was a primary mode of transit, people usually rode on the left side so their right hand remained free to greet or attack oncoming riders, depending on what the situation called for. With the rise of horse-drawn carriages, conventions began to change. Drivers would often sit on the left rear horse, so their dominant right hands could better control the rest of the team that stood to the front and right of the driver. It then made sense for them to drive on the right side of roads so drivers would be positioned in the middle of the lane and be able to keep track of their surroundings more easily.