Thursday 13 August 2015

Happy International Left-Handers' day!

Wednesday is when those 10 percent who always feel like they are getting elbowed can raise their dominant hand and feel special.

Lefties are in some good company when it comes to Hollywood and music. Here are some famous lefties: Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, Tina Fey, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Stewart, Robert DeNiro, Jim Henson, Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Sarah Jessica Parker, Keanu Reeves, Julia Roberts, Jerry Seinfeld, Dick Van Dyke, Oprah Winfrey, Lisa Kudrow and Nicole Kidman. Seven former presidents are (or were) lefties, and so is President Barack Obama. 

Now to some quick facts:

* Aug. 13 was designated as Left-Handers' Day in 1976 to bring awareness to the difficulties lefties face by living in a right-handed world.

* Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. are left-handed.

* Lefties are more likely to be geniuses.

* Left-handed people are more likely to loathe spiral notebooks.

* Eskimos reportedly believe every lefty is a potential winner.

* Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci were both left-handed. Other famous lefties include Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, Tom Cruise, Chewbacca the Wookie, Bob Geldof and Jimi Hendrix.

* On a QWERTY keyboard there are 1447 English words typed solely with the left hand, whilst only 187 are typed with the right hand.

* Left handers make especially good baseball players, tennis players, swimmers, boxers and fencers. Almost 40% of the top tennis players are lefties, including Rafael Nadal who has won 14 grand slam titles.