International Left Hander’s Day was first celebrated on August 13, 1976. It was started by Lefthander’s International. This yearly event celebrates left-handedness and raises awareness of the difficulties and frustrations left-handers experience every day in a world designed for right-handers. So take a minute to appreciate your left handed friends and loved ones. Don’t forget to send them a Left Handed Day Ecard to show your respect.
In Technology
4 of the 5 original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed
Bill Gates is left handed
The computer mouse you are using as you read this is designed for right handers.
On a QWERTY keyboard there are 1447 English words typed solely with the left hand, whilst only 187 are typed with the right hand.
Notable Facts
Tests conducted by St. Lawrence University in New York found that there were more left-handed people with IQs over 140 than right-handed people. Famous left-handed intellectuals include Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Franklin
Left-handedness runs in families. Lefties in the British royal family include the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Prince William.
1 in 4 Apollo astronauts were left-handed – 250% more than the normal level.
The lengthy list of left-handed leaders includes four of the last seven commanders in chief — President Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Gerald Ford — as well as past presidents James Garfield, Harry Truman, Henry Ford and Thomas Jefferson (ambidextrous). In fact, there’s a rumor that Ronald Regan was born a leftie, but stringent schoolteachers converted him to a righty when he was young.
Between 10-12% of people on earth are “lefties.” Women are more likely to be right-handed than men by about 4 percentage points.
Left handed college graduates go on to become 26% richer than right handed graduates
Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania awards up to $1,475 in academic scholarships to students who have top academic records and who are left-handed.
Career Facts
More likely to pursue creative careers. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Mozart, and Beethoven are amongst these creative left-handers.
Lefties are also called "southpaws". The term was coined in baseball to describe a left handed pitcher. Manny Pacquiao is left-handed.
Make especially good baseball players, tennis players, swimmers, boxers and fencers (almost 40% of the top tennis players are lefties)
While many people are left handed, very few are 100% left handed. For example, many Left handers golf and bat right handed. On the other hand, there is a high percentage of righties who are 100% right-handed.
Politicians
Left-Handed U.S. Presidents
James A. Garfield (1831-1881) 20th
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) 31st
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) 33rd
Gerald Ford (1913-2006) 38th
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th
George H.W. Bush (1924- ) 41st
Bill Clinton (1946- ) 42nd
Barack Obama (1961- ) 44th
Left-Handed U.S. Politicians
Senator Bill Bradley, Rhodes scholar, basketball star
McGeorge Bundy, presidential advisor
Benjamin Franklin, statesman/publisher/scientist
Steve Forbes, businessman/publisher
Jean-Marc Froidevaux , Suiss politician
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Supreme Court Justice
Senator Daniel Inouye
Anthony Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice
Brigadier Gen. Lee Hsien Loon, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense
Col. Oliver North, White House aid
H. Ross Perot, businessman
William Perry, Secretary of Defense
Nelson Rockefeller, Vice President
Senator Hugh Scott
Robert Wagner, New York mayor
Henry Wallace, Vice President
[Senator Bob Dole - switched to left due to injury]
Creative
Left-Handed Authors
James Baldwin, novelist
Bet Bowen, horror novelist
Peter Benchley, novelist
Lewis Carroll
Richard Condon, novelist
Jean Genet
Marshall McLuhan
Diane Paul
Helen Hooven Santmyer, novelist
Viktoria Stefanov
Mark Twain, novelist
Samuel C. Warner , poet
H.G. Wells
Jessamyn West
Eudora Welty, see One Writer’s Beginnings (1983:27)
Thomas Carlyle
Left-Handed Musicians
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, composer
David Byrne (Talking Heads)
Glen Campbell
Vicki Carr
Natale Cole
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins)
Dick Dale (guitarist)
Don Everly (The Everly Brothers)
Phil Everly (The Everly Brothers)
Bela Fleck, jazz musician
Glenn Frey (the Eagles)
Eric Gale, guitarist
Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
Errol Garner, jazz pianist
Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
Robert Plant (Led Zepplin)Judy Garland
Crysal Gayle
Kevin Griffin, guitarist & lead singer (Better than Ezra)
Thomas Hedley, vocalist/musician
Jimi Hendrix
Isaac Hayes
Tony Iommi, guitarist (Black Sabbath)
Albert King, guitarist
Melissa Manchester
Chuck Mangione, trumpet
Martina McBride , country music singer
Paul McCartney (the Beatles; Wings)
Christie Marie Melonson (opera)
George Michael (Wham!)
Peter Nero, conductor
Cole Porter, song-writer
Sergei Rachmaninoff , composer
Maurice Ravel , composer
Lou Rawls
John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols / Public Image Ltd.)
Rich Szabo, trumpeter
Seal
Ringo Starr (the Beatles)
Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)
Tiny Tim
Rudy Valee
Lenny White, drummer
Paul Williams, song-writer
Left-Handed Artists
Albrecht Dürer
M.C. Escher
Hans Holbein
Paul Klee
Michelangelo
LeRoy Neiman
Raphael
Leonardo da Vinci
Sports
American Football
Frankie Albert
Terry Baker
Mark Brunell (quarterback)
Bobby Douglass
Norman "Boomer" Esiason
Jim Del Gaizon
David Humm
Paul McDonald
Scott Mitchell
Gayle Sayers
Allie Sherman, coach
Kenny Stabler
Steve Young
Jim Zorn
Baseball
Steve Carlton (pitcher)
Whitey Ford (pitcher)
Paul Gibson (pitcher)
Lefty Grove (pitcher)
Ron Guidry (pitcher)
Al Habrosky (pitcher)
Steve Howe (pitcher)
Bruce Hurst (pitcher)
Carl Hubbell (pitcher)
Randy Johnson (pitcher)
Tommy John (pitcher)
Bob Kipper (pitcher)
Joe Magrane (pitcher)
Greg Swindell (pitcher)
Brady Anderson
Steve Avery
Harold Baines
Barry Bonds
Wade Boggs
Lou Brock
Brett Butler
Will Clark
Ty Cobb
Adrian Dantley
Lenny Dykstra
John Franco
Tom Glavine
Lefty Gomez
Leon "Goose" Goslin
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Tony Gwynn
Rickey Henderson
Kent Hrbek
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson
Reggie Jackson
David Justice
Wally Joyner
Sandy Koufax
John Kruk
Kenny Lofton
Fred Lynn
Kevin Maas
John McGras
Fred McGriff
Heinie Manush
Dave Martinez
Don Mattingly
Jackie Mitchell
Stan Musial
Troy O’Leary
Paul O’Neil
John Olerud
Mel Ott
Rafael Palmeiro
Dan Pasqua
Babe Ruth
"Neon" Deion Sanders (baseball/Am.football)
Warren Spahn
Casey Stengel
Darryl Strawberry
Lou Whitaker
Ted Williams
Fernando Valenzuela
Tommy Lasorda (baseball manager)
Badminton
Erik Poul Hoejer (badminton)
Peter Rasmussen (badminton)
Donna Stacey (netball)
Basketball
Nate Archibald
Walter Berry
Larry Bird
Adrian Branch
Calbert Cheaney
Dave Cowens
Adrian Dantley
Charles "Lefty" Driesell
Mark Eaton
Nick Van Exel
Gail Goodrich
Ron Kellogg
Toni Kukoc
Bob Lanier
Brad Lohaus
Harold Minor
Dick Motta
Chris Mullen
Sam Perkins
Digger Phelps
Willis Reed
Guy Rodgers
Bill Russell
Wayman Tisdale
Bill Walton
Lenny Wilkins
Manuel Zuleta
Billiards
Steve Mizerak, Jr.
Kun-Fang Lee
Bonnie Arnold
Reynaldo Grandee
Bowling
Bill Allen
Patrick Allen
Earl Anthony
Mike Aulby
Steve Cook
Patty Costello
Dave Davis
Cara Honeychurch
Tish Johnson
Johnny Petraglia
Andy Varipapa
Fencing
Cécile Argiolas
Laura Flessel-Colovic
Fabrice Gazin
Matthieu Gourdain
Fabrice Jeannet
Giuseppe Mangiarotti
Hugues Obry
Anne-Lise Touya
Adeline Wuilleme
Golf
Bonny Bryant
Bob Charles
Russ Cochran
Connie Decker
NOT Ben Hogan, who is included on many published lists
Phil Mickelson (while golfing only)
Hockey
Tom Barrasso
Phil Esposito
Cam Neely
Terry Sawchuk
Roman Turek
Cycling
Thomas Voeckler
Boxers
Carmen Basilio
James "Gentleman Jim" Corbett
Marvin Hagler
Oscar de la Hoya
Reggie Johnson
Rafael "Bazooka" Limon
Freddie Miller
Jacker Patterson
Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker
Manny Pacquiao
Cricket
Alan Border
Alistair Campbell
Denis Compton
Saurav Ganguly
David Gower
Gary Sobers
Driver
Johnny Herbert (Formula 1 driver)
Terry Labonte (NASCAR race car driver)
Ayrton Senna (Formula 1 driver)
Karl Wendlinger (Formula 1 driver)
Valentino Rossi (motorcycle racer)
Olympics
Francis X. Gorman (diving)
Greg Louganis (diving)
Mark Spitz (swimming)
Bruce Jenner (decathlon)
Nikita Kohloff (wrestling)
Dorothy Hamill (skating)
Soccer
Jans van Breukelen
Dan Burbott
Johan Cruyff
Willem van Hanegem
Hernan Medford
Pelé -Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Diego Armando Maradona
Romario
Hugo Sanchez
Richard Witschge
Tennis
Kenneth Carlsen
Jimmy Connors
Norman Brookes
Courtney De Mone
Guy Forget
Andres Gomez (Santos)
Goran Ivanesivic
Rod Laver
Henri LeConte
John McEnroe
Thomas Muster
Martina Navratilova – ambidexterous
Manuel Orantes
Niki Pilic
Renee Richards
Marcello Chino Rios
Monica Seles
Roscoe Tanner
Guillermo Vilas
Mark Woodforde
More Notable Lefties
Joan of Arc , French heroine
Lloque Yapanqui , Inca monarch
Ramses II , Egyptian pharaoh
Tiberius , Roman emperor
Alexander the Great
Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor
Julius Caesar, Roman general
Napoléon Bonaparte , French emperor
Josephine de Beauharnais
King Louis XVI of France
Queen Victoria of England
King George II of England
King George VI of England
Prince Charles of England
Prince William of England
Fidel Castro, Cuban leader
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime-minister
Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime-minister
Nicole d’Oresme, mathematician
Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer
David Rockefeller, banker
Dwight F. Davis, founder of the Davis Cup in tennis
Helen Keller, advocate for the blind
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, physician/missionary
August Piccard, inventor of stratosphere, bathosphere
Edwin Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
Wally Schirra, astronaut
Dr. Mark Silver, surgeon
Paul Prudhomme, chef
Cecil Beaton, photographer/costume designer
Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts (ambidexterous)
Dave Barry, journalist
David Broder, journalist
Edward R. Murrow, correspondent
Ted Koppel, journalist
Forrest Sawyer, journalist
Ray Suarez, journalist
John F. Kennedy, Jr., lawyer/publisher
Caroline Kennedy, lawyer/author
Ron Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan
Vin Scully, sports broadcaster
David Letterman , host
Jay Leno, host
Lenny Bruce, comedian
Allen Ludden, host
Joel Hodgson, host of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Wink Martindale, game show host
Uri Geller, psychokinetic performer
Richard Simmons, exercise guru
Euell Gibbons, naturalist
Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne quintuplets
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
Clarence Darrow, lawyer
F. Lee Bailey, lawyer
Melvin Belli, lawyer
Marcia Clark, lawyer
Alan Funt, television producer
Milt Caniff, cartoonist
Bill Mauldin, cartoonist
Cathy Guisevite, cartoonist
Matt Groening, cartoonist
Jean Plantureux (Plantu), political cartoonist
Pat Oliphand, political cartoonist Ronald Searle, cartoonist
Pat Robertson, evangelist/politician
N.B. Forrest, Confederate general
John Dillinger, criminal/bank robber
Boston Strangler (Albert Henry DeSalvo), serial killer
Jack-the-Ripper, serial killer
John Wesley Hardin, Western gunslinger
Bart Simpson, cartoon character
King Edward III of England
Osama Bin Ladin
Health
Recover from strokes faster
Nails grow faster on the left hand than the right
Stuttering and dyslexia occur more often in left-handers (particularly if they are forced to change their writing hand as a child, like King of England George VI).
Left-handers usually reach puberty 4 to 5 months after right-handers
Mothers who are over 40 at the time of a child’s birth are 128% more likely to have a left-handed baby than a woman in her 20s
There is a high tendency in twins for one to be left-handed
When placed on their tummies, right-handed babies tend to turn their heads to the right. Left-handed babies usually turn their heads to the left or they don’t show any preference.
Research suggests that left-handers are slightly more prone to allergies and asthma than right-handers are.
Studies have shown that if a left-hander injures his dominant hand, he has an easier time learning to use the other hand than his right-handed counterparts.
Right handed people operate in the left side of the brain. Left handed people use the right side.
Left-handers adjust more readily to seeing underwater.
Other Random Facts
It is believed that all polar bears are left handed. Also see Polar Bear Day.
Tuesdays are Lefties luck day.
There is a rumor that octopuses have but one right hand. Scientists are diligently studying this issue.
Most left-handers draw figures facing to the right.
Everyone is a Left Hander in Left Hand, West Virginia.
In school, have you ever seen a left handed desk They don’t exist.
Novelty coffee mugs are made with the picture or text for a right handed pick-up.
Scissors for for right handers.
Sinistrophobia is the fear of left-handedness or things on the left side.
During the 1600′s people, thought left handers were witches and warlocks.
Thank you for reading IT Blog
Originally posted 2012-08-13 14:50:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter