Word: traffic
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...they are meanwhile a truly a terrific addition to Harvard Yard. Simple and tasteful, they provide an easy way to enjoy nice fall weather with fellow students. Furthermore, a scattering of chairs throughout the Yard is very conducive to furthering social interaction and spontaneous conversation. Within such a high traffic area, students are bound to see familiar faces or make new acquaintances while enjoying a seat outside. We are pleased to see the administration embracing this inventive move to address a lack of social space on campus. Instead of fixating on the idea that the chairs might not fit well...
...Some say that before the French Revolution, aristocrats drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasantry to the right. Amid the upheaval, fearful aristocrats sought to blend in with the proletariat by traveling on the right as well. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-handed conquest, like Great Britain, preserved their left-handed tradition...
...always been a nation of right-hand drivers; earlier in its history, carriage and horse traffic traveled on the left, as it did in England. But by the late 1700s, the theory goes, teamsters driving large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses began prompting a shift to the right. A driver would sit on the rear left horse in order to wield his whip with his right hand; to see opposite traffic clearly, the teamsters traveled on the right...
...final moves to firmly standardize traffic directions in the U.S. occurred in the 20th century, when Henry Ford decided to mass-produce his cars with controls on the left (one reason, stated in a 1908 catalog: the convenience for passengers exiting directly onto the curb, "especially ... if there is a lady to be considered"). Once these norms were set, many countries eventually adjusted to conform to the right-hand standard, including Canada in the 1920s, Sweden in 1967 and Burma in 1970. The U.K. and former colonies such as Australia and India are among the Western world's few remaining...
Despite widespread opposition to the changeover in Samoa, the government insists it's prepared for the move. Officials have added road humps to slow traffic and, according to the Wall Street Journal, set up a training area near a sports stadium where people can practice driving on the flip side. Sept. 7 and 8 have been declared national holidays to help people ease into the new law. Leau Apisaloma, a village chief, told the Journal there's no cause for alarm: "In the beginning, it will be hard, but we'll learn - we're not stupid...