It's the 'ou' Thing

from Open Library

Accents, colloquialisms, and certain rules of punctuation aside (well, OK, and the use of certain words, like "lorry" vs. "truck"), we do speak more or less the same language as our brethren across the Atlantic. Why, then, the differences in spelling? Their "ou"s where we have just "o"s, for example, or the "s"s where we have "z"s? Apparently, we have Noah Webster to blame (or thank) for much of it. And speaking of blame, you won't believe how old Teddy Roosevelt wanted to change our orthography. (Of course, there's nothing quite like a typo in an article about spelling or grammar, especially when there's one in the very last line!): http://io9.com/americanize-anglicise-why-do-brits-and-yanks-spell-wo-1671334487