The day itself is used for left-handers to be loud and proud about their uniqueness, as opposed to the past when some lefties were viewed with suspicion.
Around 11% percent of the world’s population is left-handed, but what makes someone left-handed?
Researchers at Northwestern University created a mathematical model which shows that being a leftie is the result of the balance between “cooperation and competition in human evolution.”
Speaking at the time, Professor Daniel M. Abrams, assistant professor at McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, says that the more “social the animal, the more the general population will trend toward one side.”
The model also helped explain why many athletes were left-handed; competition is a big factor for these individuals and thus they end up being lefties rather than relying on their right hands.
While being left-handed might still be looked upon with suspicion, many go on to lead successful lives.
U.S. President Barack Obama is left-handed, but he wasn’t the first president who needed to tie his shoelaces the other way around. Other presidents who were lefties include James Garfield, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W Bush and Bill Clinton.
Personalities such as Ophrah Winfrey and Bill Gates are left-handed, with guitarist Jimi Hendrix being famous for his left-handed playing. Hendrix actually taught himself to play right-handed guitar strings in reverse order (normally left-handed guitars are restrung) which allowed him to alternate between left- and right-hand playing. Beatles drummer Ringo has a similar style, playing a drum kit setup for a right handed player, but he’s also a lefty!
There have also been left-handed scientists such as Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Sir Issac Newton and Alan Turing, none of who let being left-handed hold them back.
An “essential” pack for lefties to help them navigate through life might include:
- Left-handed general purpose scissors with fully reversed blades
- Left-handed tin opener with geared rotary action
- Left-handed swivel blade peeler
- T-pattern left-handed corkscrew with anti-clockwise screw
- Packs of lead pencils printed in the left-handed direction
- 2-hole left-handed pencil sharpener
- Ruler scaled from right to left
- Notepad with the pages glued on the right so you can tear them off easily when writing left-handed
