What do five of the last seven U.S. Presidents have in common? They were all left-handed.
Why are some folks right-handed and others left? Why would left-handers be signing bills in the Oval Office in such numbers? Scientists aren’t really sure. Here are some interesting things about handedness that we do know:
- Handedness runs through the entire animal kingdom, including in some species that don’t have hands.
- Handedness is connected to Lateralization (using half your brain to do some stuff and the other half to do other things).
- “The ability to produce and comprehend language emanates from the left side of the brain in more than 95 percent of right-handed people and in about 70 percent of left-handed ones.”
- About 20% of identical twins have different strong hands.
- In chickens, lateralization is determined according to which of their eyes first encounters light through the eggshell during incubation.
- Lefties are more likely to die in an accident but also more likely to win a violent exchange.
More on Southpaws:
Jimi Hendrix’ left-handed stratocaster (though he mostly played right-handed ones strung upside down).
