Left Handers -- Have a nice Day!! Friday, August 13 2004 19:10 Hrs (IST)
International day of the Left Handers is being celebrated today (Friday, August 13, 2004). Though many consider Friday the 13th as evil or unholy, it could well be the happiest day for Left-Handers. Interestingly, Left-Handers' groups call it the celebration of Left-Handers superiority!
Left-Handers are also referred to as the Southpaws. Actually, the word Southpaw is a slang, which means a Left-Handed person, especially a left-handed baseball pitcher.
The term is believed to have originated from the practice in baseball of arranging the diamond with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher facing west would therefore have his pitching arm toward the south of the diamond.
Some important trivia:
Aristera or "left" in Greek means "the best" and is the root of the English word "aristocratic."
During the Renaissance, master painters had their right-handed pupils occasionally switch hands to elicit a freer, more imaginative stroke.
SAT results show that left-handed males score higher in math than right-handed males.
As seen from the North Pole, the Earth rotates to the left, counter-clockwise, and proceeds to the left around the sun.
Research shows that after suffering from a stroke, left-handers often recover functions such as speech more quickly than right-handers do. Experts think this may be because the two hemispheres of lefties brains work in a more tandem fashion than those of righties.
No se zurdo literally means "Don't be left-handed" in Spanish, but its colloquial meaning is "Don't be stupid".
The superstition says if you see a shooting star, someone has died. Some say if it shoots to the right, they went to heaven, but if it shoots to the left, they've gone to hell.
Since the invention of the merry-go-round two centuries ago, it has literally been impossible for lefties to "reach for the brass ring." The rings are always placed on the merry-go-round rider's right side.
Medical studies appear to show that, on the average, left-handers are affected more by tranquilisers and pain killers than right-handers.
The more active and sensitive eye for a leftie will usually be his/her left.
In Great Britain, where baseball has never taken hold, the term 'southpaw' means "left-handed boxer."
Studies show that left-handers reach puberty four to six months later than right-handers.
The left tusks of Arctic whales can grow to a length of nine feet, spiralling in a counter-clockwise direction.
While English superstition doesn't specify which rabbit's foot will bring good luck, American superstition does: the left hind foot.
Albertus Magnus, in the 13th Century, advised a husband whose wife had rejected him to wear the marrow from a wolf's left foot, "and she will love none but you."
A study published in South Africa suggests that people who are vegetarians are more likely to be left-handed.
The superstition says that if your right palm itches you'll receive money and, if the left, you'll spend it.
Some 'Lefty' Celebrities
Ludwig van Beethoven
Paul McCartney
Mark Twain
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
Brian lara
Ayrton Senna
Ronald Reagan
Sir Winston Churchill
Some more trivia.....
The bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain (called the corpus callosum) is larger in lefties resulting in efficient information transfer and redundancy in the brain.
The area of the brain, which controls our memory of music is in the right side, the
dominant one for lefties. Studies have shown that the talent for retention of pitch is
more developed in lefties.
Left-handedness is often an advantage for athletes. Many talented tennis players are
left-handed, and even gladiators in ancient Rome were given special instructions on
how to combat a left-handed opponent.
The Eskimos believed that every lefty was a possible sorcerer.
Some fancied trivia
It seems that left-handedness and a desire for power could be connected: look at lefties like Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, and all three candidates in the US presidential election in 1992. What do you think?
A man could divorce his wife if he discovered she was left-handed in ancient Japan.
When noblemen married beneath their social status, they held their bride's hand in
their Left Hand, and she would not receive any legal rights. In addition, a "left-handed
wife" was sometimes only a mistress.
Because appliances are designed for the majority, many can be dangerous when used
by lefties. Power saws, for example, will blow sawdust in a lefty's face.
Aims & Objectives of Left-handers Day:
To raise awareness of left-handedness and the challenges caused by living in such a right-handed world.
Educate designers and manufacturers to accommodate left-handers' comfort and safety in new product and building design
Celebrate the strengths and advantages left-handers possess, and dispel many of the superstitions and fiction that have surrounded left-handedness in many cultures for hundreds of years, and which still create prejudice today.
Provide the greatest possible range of tools and equipment specifically designed for left-handers to use - making everyday tasks easier than left-handers have ever experienced, and making a positive difference to their lives.
Promote research into various aspects of left-handedness.
Note: There are over 30 million left-handers in the United States alone!
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