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Left-Handers Day: Surprising Facts About Being Left-Handed

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

International Left-Handers Day is August 13, a day celebrating the 10 to 12 percent of people worldwide who favor their left hand. Discover surprising left-handed facts, history, and folklore—from old superstitions to the science behind handedness.

Years ago, some teachers insisted that all students, including left-handers, learn to write with their right hand. Teachers thought that students would have an easier time if they were not “different” from right-handed writers. Some thought that using the left hand was just a bad habit. Some even slapped or punished left-handed kids who had trouble!

left-hander facts

Now we know that everyone should use whichever hand is most comfortable. Today, 10 to 12 percent of the world’s population is left-handed. It’s not surprising that lefties sometimes feel “left out.” Plenty of superstitions and odd terms regarding left-handedness exist.

Left-Hander Superstitions and Terms

  • Sinistrophobia is the fear of left-handedness or things on the left side.
  • Many people believe that the devil is left-handed.
  • The Latin word for left, sinister, also means unlucky, evil, and suspicious.
  • The French word for left, gauche, also means clumsy.
  • A left-handed compliment is an insult.
  • It is believed that all polar bears are left-handed.
  • A left-handed baseball pitcher is called a southpaw. (And no, there’s no such thing as a northpaw!)

Why Are Some People Left-handed and Others Right-handed?

Scientists aren’t sure what causes left-handedness. Genetics plays a role, but it’s not the whole story. For example, identical twins have the same DNA, but it is common for one twin to be right-handed and the other to be left-handed.

Many left-handers have a symmetrical brain, meaning that the left and right portions of their brain are shaped alike. Right-handers often have an asymmetrical brain: The left cerebral hemisphere is often larger than the right cerebral hemisphere.

pinky promise left hand facts

No matter the shape of your brain or the hand you favor, here’s what we have—um—left:

Left-handed Facts and Trivia

The Left Test

There’s no sure way to measure “handedness.” One of the most widely used tests is called the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (developed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 1970s). This test asks participants which hand they most often use for a series of activities, including writing, eating, drawing, throwing, cutting with scissors, brushing teeth, and unscrewing a lid.

Left-handed Burgers? Baloney!

A full-page ad in USA Today in 1998 claimed that Burger King had developed the “left-handed Whopper.” The burger had the same fixings, but they were turned 180 degrees so that they wouldn’t drip out on left-handed customers. It was a joke! The ad ran on April 1 (April Fools’ Day).

Lefties Day

August 13 is International Left-Handers Day! The tradition was started by the Left-Handers Club, a group in the United Kingdom. Club members around the world give interviews and play left-handed games.

left handed facts folklore

Left-hander Heaven?

Lefties might want to travel to Left Hand, West Virginia, where there is a church, a school, and a post office. The village was so named because it sits on the left-hand fork of the Big Sandy River, not because of the way its citizens write.

Left-handed Reward

A few left-handers attending Juniata College in Pennsylvania have benefited from a scholarship just for left-handers established in 1979 by Mary and Frederick Beckley, two left-handers who met when they attended tennis class together in 1919.

If you’re right-handed, try writing with your left. If you’re left-handed, try brushing your teeth with your right. You’re likely to find these activities surprisingly difficult.

So, tell us below if you are a lefty or righty and what you’ve observed about this phenomenon called handedness!

Amusements

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the digital home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. She leads digital editorial strategy and publishing across a wide range of Almanac sub...

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Kathy Valley</span> Sat, 08/15/2026 - 07:51
I eat, write, brush my teeth with my left hand. I play most sports right handed… Except for Bowling, I do use my left hand only. Most tasks have to be done by my left hand, opening jars using scissors and cutting things. Many people in my family are left-handed. I do always notice if other people are left-handed. I don’t know if others are like that or not /and people always observe that I am left-handed.
<span>Jeanne V. Smith</span> Sat, 08/15/2026 - 07:44
Im a lefty, but mostly writing & brushing teeth. I never could use "lefty" scissors. As a kid the art teacher would travel to classrooms, she would see me writing and give me lefty scissors,they didn't work. I throw, cut , most everything else right handed. I can write uncomfortably right handed.
<span>Hedy Grimaldi</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 21:13
I am a lefty and just love being lefty. My grandmother was a lefty, my mother was a lefty, I am and my daughter and my grandson are. We are each the only ones of our siblings to be lefties. It is a generational blessing! I always notice when I see a lefty in movies or tv.
<span>Judith Falkins</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 19:57
When I was 76 I attended class exercises for brain development for left or right handed persons. I worked on developing the left side....with effective results. I am now 87 and I still perform some of these exercises.
<span>Jen</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 19:18
I'm a lefty, and similar to some other commenters, it's pretty easy for me to write simultaneously backwards and upside-down so that a person seated across the table from me can read what I'm writing. Also, on those seeing eye pictures from the 90s, I could get it to go 3D, but the background always popped out in the foreground and vice versa. Always wondered if that was related to handedness.
<span>Terry Styner</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 18:19
Right hand used for shaking hands (because that’s what everyone else does. I learned to play golf right handed because I thought clubs would be less expensive. Everything else? Completely sinister!
<span>Clark</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 18:01
I use my left hand for many things, except for shaking other's hands.
<span>Niki D</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 17:21
My late husband d was ambidextrous If he tired of writing notes in a meeting, he'd switch and write with his other hand. He did have an early speech impediment when young, and when playing sports, coaches would put an "l" or "R" on his shoes!
<span>Debra Ferrari</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 16:41
I am a lefty through & through. In 1st grade my teacher tried to make me write with my right or I could not eat my lunch. When she turned her back, i wrote with my left. I don't know of anyone in my family who were southpaws. I taught myself to crochet by doing it backwards. I've made countless afghans & you can't tell the difference! I am proud to be a lefty!
<span>Barbara</span> Thu, 08/13/2026 - 15:47
I'm a lefty, use left hand for everything. But when holding scissors use right hand to cut and hold paper with left. Also use right hand for knives. I'm the only lefty in my family, everyone else is right handed. When I was in grade school teacher would remove pencil from left hand and place in right hand, but I always placed back in left to continue writing.