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TL;DR Decisions made long before the global trade in electrical appliances was thought of.
Anyone have a theory why we even have different voltages from the US compared to Europe?
The UK started out with DC which ranged from 110 to 250 volts, this was generated by independent electricity companies and had a very limited distribution range because it was inefficient to distribute over long distances.
It gradually changed over to AC with about the same voltage range and a frequency range of 40 to 100 Hz depending on where you lived. Eventually 240v AC @ 50Hz was adopted as the standard. The USA probably had a similar evolutionary process but with a different outcome.
The EU had several different voltages, all around 230v, that were harmonised in the 1990's. I say harmonised but it was a just a fudge, what happened was the different countries continued using the same voltage but the tolerance was increased so all countries fell within it.
The OP hasn't been on this thread in 5 days or more. Lol
UPDATE: There has been a breakout of free electrons that are flowing rampantly. The Silicon Police have tried setting up barriers, but many electrons are leaking through. The authorities announced a polarization effort, where the use of deadly shorts has been authorized.
People are quickly abandoning the use of electrical appliances, because they are unsure that appropriate voltages will be available and could result in severe shock hazards. The mayor announced that "If your equipment melts, it's no ones fault but your own during this period of instability."
People are quickly abandoning the use of electrical appliances, because they are unsure that appropriate voltages will be available and could result in severe shock hazards. The mayor announced that "If your equipment melts, it's no ones fault but your own during this period of instability."
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Has the Clean-up crew been dispatched to take care of the mess left by the rampaging free radicals?
Interesting. I never heard of a DC supply chain in the UK. Not in use nor in EE school.
I imagine there are a great many things Larry doesn't understand. Lol. I let him be my proxy when I'm perplexed or flummoxed about something. That post did make me chuckle, even if Larry found it confusing.
The earliest US distribution systems were DC as well, but only briefly. They were mainly lighting circuits.
Maybe Edison suckered the Brits into buying his otherwise useless crap?
Only when killing elephants went out of vogue.
Actually, I think that only occurred much later. Wait, you mean they still kill elephants?
http://historywebsite.co.uk/articles/electricity/history3.htm
Towards the end of that page, it references the change from DC to AC.
I guess my crappy memory is playing tricks on me again. Of all the things I have lost I miss my mind the most!! 
I remember as a kid seeing radios that would operate on either AC or DC which had AC/DC on the back (I used to try and fix stuff before I knew a thing about electronics). They must have been pretty old because I worked with a couple of old guys when I was an apprentice who remembered DC being available when they were young. It was only available in the big cities due to distribution problems.
That was the original use of AC/DC which was around long before it had any sexual connotations or the Young brothers got hold of it.
Anyone have a theory why we even have different voltages from the US compared to Europe?
Something to do with electrocuting Elephants...
