DID YOU KNOW

13% of people are left handed 

In medieval times, left-handed people could not become knights because it was thought that they were descendants of the devil, it is said. Spiral staircases in castles ran clockwise to allow knights all right handed  to battle intruders effectively.

The word for left in French means gauche and in Latin it means sinister. The Latin word for right is dexter, from which came “dexterous”. Ambidextrous means literally “both right.” 13% of people are left handed, up from 11% a few decades ago. The story that right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people is a myth.

Animals also are either right handed or left-handed. Polar bears are left handed and so is Kermit the Frog.

International Left-handers Day

International Left-handers Day was first observed on August 13, 1976. In 1992 the Left-Hander’s Day Club launched it as an annual international event.