It's the other way round. Standard gauge (4' 8.5") was the historical standard, being followed everywhere, right from the first public railway in England. The Liverpool & Manchester railway, the first public intercity railway in the world also used SG in 1830.
Broad gauge (any gauge wider than SG) was only adopted in a few cases, mostly before the gauges were standardized. The Indian variant of the broad gauge (5' 6") is only used in the subcontinent, Chile, Argentina and some commuter lines in the US.