We take for granted many details in our daily lives. For example, why do clocks run clockwise? This is especially puzzling when so many other things, like baseball bases and horse races, run in the opposite direction.
The book Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? and Other Imponderables by David Feldman (Harper & Row, 1988) gives one explanation —
“Henry Fried, one of the foremost horologists in the United States, gives a simple explanation… Before the advent of clocks, we used sundials. In the northern hemisphere, the shadows rotated in the direction we now call “clockwise.” The clock hands were built to mimic the natural movements of the sun. If clocks had been invented in the southern hemisphere, Fried speculates, “clockwise” would be the opposite direction.”
Sounds good to me. Are there any other explanations?