8 Random Facts About Left-Handed People You Might Not Know! - Valor Academy of Ohio (2024)

8 Random Facts About Left-Handed People You Might Not Know! - Valor Academy of Ohio (1)This August 13 is National Left Handers’ Day! To all our left-handed Valor students, congrats to having your very own holiday! While left-handed people make only about 10% of the population, they hold some pretty interesting facts that we’re willing to bet you didn’t know! Check them out below.

A few random facts about left-handed people

Fact #1: They might be smarter

A few studies have shown that left-handed people are more likely to have an IQ of 131 or higher. Coincidentally, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein were all lefties.

Fact #2: Left handers are also known as “Southpaws”

The term was coined from baseball, as left-handedwould pitch “south” of the diamond in order to accommodatefor their left hand.

Fact #3: Living in a right-handed world can be tough

Think about it: your scissors are right-handed, your pens are slanted for the right hand, even the words on your favorite mug are printed to show when holding it with your right hand. Plus, writing on a paper or chalkboard is bound to smear for left handers. It’s a right-handed world we live in, and it can be tough for the lefties!

Fact#4: But, Left Handers Can Have the Advantage in Some Sports…AndTyping

If you’ve seen the legendary “Rocky” movies, you’ll know that being left handed can have its perks in certain sports. Many boxers are left handed, or become left handed in order to deliver a punch their opponent isn’t used to. Tennis and baseball also can have its perks as a left hander.

Because a large majority of words on the qwerty keyboard are typed solely with the left hand (around 3,000 words with the left hand, but only about 400 with the right), left handers are likely to be faster typers since they’re using their dominant hand.

Fact #5: But there are left-handed tools!

Luckily, companies are catching on! These days, you can purchase scissors, pens and even measuring tape that reads right-to-left to help ease the burden of our left-handed folk.

Fact #6: Nearly half of cats are left-handed

People might be mostly right-hand dominant, but for cats, it’s pretty 50/50. So if you’re a left hander, you can likely find a cat that understands how you feel, since it might just be left-handed too!

Fact #7: Left Handers’ Day started1976

The holiday started as a way to raise awareness for left handed people and give them a day to shine. Although it started in 1976, it didn’t become an official holiday in the USA until 1992.

Fact #8: Even if you are right-handed, you could have left-handed traits

While chances are, you write and throw a ball with your right hand, you could still have left-handed traits. For example, which eye do you close to see better? Or maybe you use your left hand to cut foods when you’re also holding a fork? You can take this quiz to see how left-handed you are, or try and let Buzzfeed guess in this fun quiz!

If you’re left handed, you can revel in a holiday dedicated just for you this August 13. If you’re right-handed, why not try being left-handed for a day and see what you can accomplish!

  • Do you have another fun fact you’d like to add to the list? Share with us in the comments below!
8 Random Facts About Left-Handed People You Might Not Know! - Valor Academy of Ohio (2024)

FAQs

8 Random Facts About Left-Handed People You Might Not Know! - Valor Academy of Ohio? ›

In games like baseball, boxing, fencing and tennis, left-handers often have an edge over their right-handed opponents who are used to playing with right-handed players mostly. Left-handers have typing advantages. On a QWERTY keyboard, they can type over 3,000 English words by solely using the left hand.

What are some facts about left-handed people? ›

In games like baseball, boxing, fencing and tennis, left-handers often have an edge over their right-handed opponents who are used to playing with right-handed players mostly. Left-handers have typing advantages. On a QWERTY keyboard, they can type over 3,000 English words by solely using the left hand.

What is the IQ of a left-handed person? ›

Our confidence intervals at a 95% confidence level show that the average IQ for a left handed person is between 117.73 and 127.19 and for a right handed person it is between 109.9 and 123.5.

Was Einstein a left-hander? ›

While many like to claim Albert Einstein was a lefty, there is no evidence he actually was. In fact, the photographic evidence points to his being a righty.

Why was I born left-handed? ›

It was likely a combination of genes and environment; a large-scale study on twins and their families has shown that about 25 percent of the individual variance in handedness can be explained by genes, while 75 percent is determined by environmental influences (Medland et al., 2009).

How rare is a left-handed girl? ›

The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjectively preferred, is called the non-dominant hand. In a study from 1975 on 7,688 children in US grades 1–6, left handers comprised 9.6% of the sample, with 10.5% of male children and 8.7% of female children being left-handed.

Do lefties have good handwriting? ›

About 10 per cent of the population is left-handed, and while being a leftie doesn't prevent you from having beautiful handwriting, it's recognised that learning to write can be a more difficult process for left-handed children.

Why is it rare to be left-handed? ›

What exactly is this new theory? Researchers say the steadily low percentage of lefties "is a result of the balance between cooperation and competition in human evolution." Humans have long had an evolutionary need to cooperate, such as when sharing tools or hunting in groups.

Who has higher IQ left or right-handed? ›

Right-handers have negligibly higher IQ scores than left-handers: Systematic review and meta-analyses. Papadatou-Pastou M, et al. (2015). Intelligence and handedness: Meta-analyses of studies on intellectually disabled, typically developing, and gifted individuals.

Is Lady Gaga left-handed? ›

When pop star Lady Gaga sings about being "Born This Way," she could very well be talking about being left-handed. She's just another in a long list of lefties who suggested that perhaps creativity comes from the brain, heart, soul... or left hand.

Is Taylor Swift left-handed? ›

So while she is right-handed, she still plays left-handed. Taylor began professional songwriting when submitting covers of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers. She did better with her original music and got an artist development deal at 13.

What is significant about being left-handed? ›

The advantages of being left-handed

Studies have shown that left-handed individuals tend to have a more developed right brain hemisphere, which is associated with creativity and artistic abilities. This may explain why a significant number of artists, musicians, and writers are left-handed.

What are the personalities of left-handed people? ›

Left-handers were found to rate themselves as higher on the arrogant/calculating dimension (claiming "co*cky," "crafty, "cunning," "boastful," "wily," "calculating," "tricky," and "sly" as accurate self descriptors) and were also higher on the cold hearted dimension (agreeing that "ruthless," "ironhearted," "hardhearted ...

What are the nicknames for lefties? ›

Southpaw, lefty, goofy-footer, mollydooker, are just some of the names used to refer to left-handed people.

What is a left-handed person called? ›

Sometimes people who are left-handed are called many different things, “Southpaws”, "Lefties", and other simply mean names, like "Weird" or "Strange".

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