Keep Left for National Left-Hander’s Day

Today, 13th August, sees the 23rd annual celebrations of the ‘leftie’ for National Left-Hander’s Day.

Whilst around 10% of the population are left-handed, there are very few who are actually fully left-handed. Many lefties play sport with their right hand, holding the golf club, baseball bat or tennis racket in their right hands.

During the 17th Century, being left-handed was used as evidence against people during trials for witchcraft. During this same period, there was a French superstition that witches greet Satan with their left arms. In fact, the French word for left, gauche, is from the old French word gauchir meaning awkward and clumsy.

However, it’s not all bad for the lefties. One in four Apollo Astronauts were left-handed, four out of five of the original Macintosh computer designers were left-handed and five out of the last seven US presidents were also lefties, clearly proving that lefties really do rule!

Other famous lefties include Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Dylan, Bill Gates and Hans Christian Anderson.

Lefties, we salute you! (With our left hands of course).

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Click here for a left-handed pen!