Unfortunately all things come to an end. My 2009 Left-Handed calendar has ended along with my routine Left-handed facts. This was fun. Enjoy.
Did you know that lab tests have revealed that left-handed people are much more perceptive of changes in musical notes?
Did you know that because Erin Brockovich-Ellis is right handed, lefty Julia Roberts had to learn to use her right hand for her role in Erin Brockovich? Roberts did such a good job that she won an Oscar for Best Actress.
Did you know that when lefty author Lewis Carroll first took his well-known book to the publisher there were two other titles being considered? Alice Among the Fairies and Alice’s Golden Hour were rejected, and the work was finally published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
You may have heard the expression “only left-handers are in their right minds.” This is because the left side of the body is controlled by the right side of the brain. In neurological terms, left-handers tend to be what is termed right-hemisphere dominant.
Preference for one hand over the other shows up early in life. You can detect hand and eye dominance in babies. A baby who reaches for a crayon with its left hand is likely to go on to scribble with its left hand and eventually write with it. Other research based on sonogram and ultrasound indicates that handedness is established even before birth.
Dr. Camilla Benbow of Johns Hopkins University conducted a project known as Mathematically Precocious Youth. She and her colleagues studied a group of boys who, at ages twelve or thirteen, scored above 700 on the quantitative section of the SAT exam. The percentage of lefties in this group was much higher than in the normal population.
Where the parents have mixed handedness, the mother’s handedness will have the most influence on that of the children, so a left-handed mother and right-handed father should have more left-handed children than the other way around.
“Everything you can imagine is real.” –Lefty Pablo Picasso
The reluctant spokesman for Generation X, lefty Kurt Cobain received his first guitar from his uncle at age fourteen, choosing it over a bicycle. He went on to be lead singer and guitarist of the Seattle grunge band Nirvana. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has been dubbed the “anthem of a generation.”
“Chess requires visualizing what the board will look like several moves into the future,” explains Harvard Medical School’s Lee Cranberg. Cranberg conducted a study of amateur and master chess players and found that nearly 19 percent of players were left-handed, significantly higher than the left-handed population at large.
One unique advantage for left-handed tennis players is that the spin of their shot is the opposite of what the opponent is accustomed to. Tennis greats Henri Leconte, Rod Laver, Monica Seles, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, and Guillermo Vilas are perfect examples.
Ancient Aztec healers were specific about which hand administered medicine for particular ailments. Kidney medication was always administered with the left hand.
Journalist Melissa Roth reported that, “a British scholar suggested that a gene that leads to left-handedness has been surging among Westerners over the last few generations.” This statement led the Sunday Times of London to declare that the country was in “a left-handed renaissance.”
Here’s a toast to all you resourceful and resilient southpaws. You throw curveball strikes, lead armies, and guide countries; run multi-billion-dollar companies and multi-child households; win Oscars, Noble Prizes, and Olympic gold medals. Congratulations!
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