I asked the question many years ago in an electrical engineering course in college. A couple explanations:
1 - Positive grounding was simply the early engineers' arbitrary choice.
2 - Oxygen molecules (the key element involved metallic corrosion) tend to be more attracted to the negative side of any circuit. By making systems positive ground (ie wiring is negatively charged relative to ground), wiring and connections tend to be less affected by corrosion.
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My experience after 40+ years of fooling with both + and - grounded systems has me leaning toward #1. I suspect the designers had to agree on a "standard" ground polarity. Someone tossed a coin and positive ground was the winner. (Then I'll bet they all adjourned to drink beer by a fire on a cold winter day - just like I'm doing now...)
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Today's Featured Article - The Cletrac General GG and the BF Avery A - A Bit of History - by Mike Ballash. This article is a summary of what I have gathered up from various sources on the Gletrac General GG and the B. F. Avery model A tractors. I am quite sure that most of it is accurate. The General GG was made by the Cleveland Tractor Company (Cletrac) of Cleveland, Ohio. Originally the company was called the Cleveland Motor Plow Company which began in 1912, then the Cleveland Tractor Company (1917) and finally Cletrac.
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