Left Handed People
As a left handed person I though I might as well blog about being a left hander.
My father and mother are both left handed and my youngest brother is also left handed. I actually could be considered ambidextrous as I play sport with my right hand but I write with my left and hand use complex actions with my left hand.
I read that 10% of the population is left-handed. People who can use both hands equally well are ambidextrous. My mother was forced to write right handed and in the past and currently in some cultures left handed people are discriminated against. especially in the arab countries. In fiji left handed people are thought to be a bit crazy.
As a left handed person it was interesting that in my Computer Science class at University the majority of my friends were left handers and the only australian girl was a left hander. But the history and phycology units I attended I was the only left hander in the class. There also seems to be some evidence that left handed people scored differently in intelligence tests and average age of longevity
Statistics show that older people are less likely to be left-handed than their younger counterparts — the percentages of lefties sharply drop off with increased age. In America, 12% of 20 year olds are left-handed, while only 5% of 50 year olds and less than 1% of people over 80 are. These numbers are surprisingly divergent
You would expect a lot of famous people would be left handers but it is suprising the number of my favourite actors, athletes and politicians are left handed people.
The following list is a revised list of the famous lefts handed people that was found at wiki.
Royalty and nobility
George II of Great Britain, George VI of the United Kingdom, Victoria of the United Kingdom, Prince Charles of Wales and Prince William of Wales
Political and governmental leaders
Barrack Obama, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, H. Ross Perot and Ronald Reagan
Julius Caesar, Hugo Chávez, Mahatma Gandhi,Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot
Criminals
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, John Dillinger and Osama bin Laden
Artists
Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo
Authors
J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain and H.G. Wells
Musicians and composers
50 Cent, David Bowie, Charlie Chaplin, Kurt Cobain, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Jimi Hendrix, Ricky Martin, George Michael, Osmonds, Johnny Rotten, Paul Mcartney and Ringo Starr
IT
Bill Gates, steve jobs and steve wozniak
Actors
Woody Allen,Dan Aykroyd, Matthew Broderick, Pierce Brosnan, George Burns, Drew Carey, Robert , Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Morgan Freeman, Greta Garbo, Jim Henson, Hugh Jackman, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Ray Liotta, Ryan O'Neal, Anthony Perkins, Dennis Quaid, Robert Redford, - Keanu Reeves, Kurt Russell, David Spade, Jodie Sweetin, Chris Tucker, Shannon Tweed, Mark Wahlberg and Oprah Winfrey
Film directors
James Cameron, Spike Lee and Ridley Scott
Baseball Players
Barry Bonds,Wade Boggs, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Ken Griffey, Jr., Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Joe Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth, Deion Sanders, Darryl Strawberry, Ted Williams and Dontrelle Willis
Basketball Players
Kenny Anderson, Larry Bird, Emanuel Ginobili, LeBron James, Toni Kukoc, David Robinson, Bill Russell, Bill Walton and Lenny Wilkens
Boxing
Marvin Hagler, Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson
Football (soccer)
John Barnes, Ryan Giggs, Diego Maradona and Roberto Carlos
American Football
Sebastian Janikowski, Donovan McNabb, Deion Sanders, Gale Sayers, Michael Vick and Steve Young
Rugby Union
Daniel Carter,Jonah Lomu, Percy Montgomery and Jonny Wilkinson
Other sports
Gary Kasparov, Greg Louganis, Mark Spitz and Sir Clive Woodward
Miscellaneous
Buzz Aldrin, Henry Ford, Alan Greenspan, Matt Groening, Ken Jennings, Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Jay Leno, Shigeru Miyamoto, David Rockefeller, John Romero and Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
Disputed left-handed people / Ambidextrous
Alexander the Great, Lord Baden-Powell, Sylvester Stallone, Billy the Kid , Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc , Jack the Ripper and Pablo Picasso
My father and mother are both left handed and my youngest brother is also left handed. I actually could be considered ambidextrous as I play sport with my right hand but I write with my left and hand use complex actions with my left hand.
I read that 10% of the population is left-handed. People who can use both hands equally well are ambidextrous. My mother was forced to write right handed and in the past and currently in some cultures left handed people are discriminated against. especially in the arab countries. In fiji left handed people are thought to be a bit crazy.
As a left handed person it was interesting that in my Computer Science class at University the majority of my friends were left handers and the only australian girl was a left hander. But the history and phycology units I attended I was the only left hander in the class. There also seems to be some evidence that left handed people scored differently in intelligence tests and average age of longevity
Statistics show that older people are less likely to be left-handed than their younger counterparts — the percentages of lefties sharply drop off with increased age. In America, 12% of 20 year olds are left-handed, while only 5% of 50 year olds and less than 1% of people over 80 are. These numbers are surprisingly divergent
You would expect a lot of famous people would be left handers but it is suprising the number of my favourite actors, athletes and politicians are left handed people.
The following list is a revised list of the famous lefts handed people that was found at wiki.
Royalty and nobility
George II of Great Britain, George VI of the United Kingdom, Victoria of the United Kingdom, Prince Charles of Wales and Prince William of Wales
Political and governmental leaders
Barrack Obama, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, H. Ross Perot and Ronald Reagan
Julius Caesar, Hugo Chávez, Mahatma Gandhi,
Criminals
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, John Dillinger and Osama bin Laden
Artists
Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo
Authors
J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain and H.G. Wells
Musicians and composers
50 Cent, David Bowie, Charlie Chaplin, Kurt Cobain, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Jimi Hendrix, Ricky Martin, George Michael, Osmonds, Johnny Rotten, Paul Mcartney and Ringo Starr
IT
Bill Gates, steve jobs and steve wozniak
Actors
Woody Allen,Dan Aykroyd, Matthew Broderick, Pierce Brosnan, George Burns, Drew Carey, Robert , Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Morgan Freeman, Greta Garbo, Jim Henson, Hugh Jackman, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Ray Liotta, Ryan O'Neal, Anthony Perkins, Dennis Quaid, Robert Redford, - Keanu Reeves, Kurt Russell, David Spade, Jodie Sweetin, Chris Tucker, Shannon Tweed, Mark Wahlberg and Oprah Winfrey
Film directors
James Cameron, Spike Lee and Ridley Scott
Baseball Players
Barry Bonds,Wade Boggs, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Ken Griffey, Jr., Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Joe Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth, Deion Sanders, Darryl Strawberry, Ted Williams and Dontrelle Willis
Basketball Players
Kenny Anderson, Larry Bird, Emanuel Ginobili, LeBron James, Toni Kukoc, David Robinson, Bill Russell, Bill Walton and Lenny Wilkens
Boxing
Marvin Hagler, Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson
Football (soccer)
John Barnes, Ryan Giggs, Diego Maradona and Roberto Carlos
American Football
Sebastian Janikowski, Donovan McNabb, Deion Sanders, Gale Sayers, Michael Vick and Steve Young
Rugby Union
Daniel Carter,Jonah Lomu, Percy Montgomery and Jonny Wilkinson
Other sports
Gary Kasparov, Greg Louganis, Mark Spitz and Sir Clive Woodward
Miscellaneous
Buzz Aldrin, Henry Ford, Alan Greenspan, Matt Groening, Ken Jennings, Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Jay Leno, Shigeru Miyamoto, David Rockefeller, John Romero and Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
Disputed left-handed people / Ambidextrous
Alexander the Great, Lord Baden-Powell, Sylvester Stallone, Billy the Kid , Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc , Jack the Ripper and Pablo Picasso
posted by George at 8:25 am
64 Comments:
George, thank you for finding the goldmine of lefthanded famous people. Well, take it as a positive idea because we are in such good company! May we rule and conquer the world!
Dad
George Bush and Osama are both lefties! What a surprise!
In Fiji I expect that the Indian people consider that left-handedness is not OK. They expect people to eat food with the right hand I think.
Do you use the computer mouse on the left or right side then?
Cheerio
W.
Thanks mark, I learn't something new with your post
The Everly Brothers are not twins.
Boo
Ryan Giggs is right handed. Left footed, but definalty rifgt handed.
No, Ryan Giggs is left handed... almost makes me proud to be a lefty. when i was fourteen years old, one of my teachers tied my hand beihind my back and tried to make me write with my right... i hated her.
Interesting the list has M. C. Escher as a "southpaw". I figured him for right-handed, he holds the reflecting sphere in his right hand, and he definitely used his right hand twice in the "hand Drawing Hand" illustration (which of course is holding the pencil). I guess (before the days of modern lithograhy) the stone prints a mirror image on the paper proof and this is what threw me off.
I am 17 and im left handed i dont know iff im the only one or iff im mad but i must be onnest i do feel supirior to other people i really do i dont know why but i yust feal like i am the man XDD i had to say it because i fealt like im not the only one by looking at the list of the greatest peolple on earth iff you feal familiar with me or have somethink to say please email me at : ELLIOTT1991@HOTMAIL.COM (sorry for my bad spealing im english but i have been brought up in spain and i go to spanish school so i have difficulty with my spealing thank you)
hey
i just thought id say well done for finding out so much stuff about lefties!!!!!
You know whatsvquite funny. i thought that logic and all the things required for school was on the left side of ur brain but in my maths class the best person in it is left handed!!!!!!!!!
from your fellow leftie,
X Abb!e X
i am a fourteen year old lefty and i am trying to research more about it. this is a nicely done blog. being a lefty is awesome i use it as an excuse for being bad at using sissors. aha. its pretty extreme that all those famous people were lefthanded, but if you think about it, every one else who is famous is/was right handed?
Ryan Giggs,R.Carlos and Maradona are left footed and right handed, just type in any of there names followed by 'autograph' in google images or wherever and they will be signing with their right hand.
when you consider the evil lefties, I am all for my right handed buddies to round up all you lefties and throw into the Nile or into some other body of water beyond which you guys can left handedly swim back.
;)
lefties rule! :)))
Oh such terrible spellers. The agony!
(I am surprised any of you filled in the Word Verification properly)
You're not ambidextrous, you're cross-lateral. Ambidextrous are EQUALLY well in every tangible act that could be operated with either hand. I know this because although I write rapidly my left-hand, and write poorly and illegibly with my right-hand. Wikipedia later explained to me that being able to write left-handed, and throw with your right-hand is not defined as ambidextrous, but rather cross-lateral.
hey me 2. i am 11, the only weird lefty in my class. i dont noe there are so many lefties.
I LUV BEING A LEFTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5;^)
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
Bruce Willis. Watch Diehard One.
Finally i've met my family after 24 years of soul searching. I cant believe how big that list is and believe me bros/sisters am lauching a world wide campaign to celebrate our greatness.
Barrack Obama is also Left handed.
So many of the people mentioned on these lists are right handed, who have been known to have used their left hand for some things. Most notably the artists. Da Vinci was right handed, but could write with both hands, which he would do at the same time.
Joes Strummer; left-handed, but learned guitar right-handed. Like me, actually...
Interesting about the percentage of southpaws in your classes, since lefties are usually less adept at science/mathematical related subjects and are exceptional in the language and history area....
Good list (most don't have Marky Mark!).
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hi,
I really love your post! I am left handed too and proud to be one.
Are you guys sure about that Steve jobs is a lefty???? Im very intersted in this topic plz reply me asap thx
Hi i am also left handed i eat with right hand and write and draw by left hand
Surprising that most of the influential people are left handed.
rowling is right handed, i checked.
Hi There from new zealand.I have set up a blog For Left-handers.blogspot.com.All comments are welcome
I write (very slowly) with my left-hand,shave and clean my teeth with the left also.
Tennis I play right-handed.I had my writing hand changed at junior school for a couple of years and then changed schools, and reverted to the left.
My youngest daughter is 100% left-handed(her twin is right handed)
Oh and I prefer to use the computer mouse left-handed or a centre touchpad
so these are the list of celebrities who are left-handed... and the rest of them are right-handed :)
Hi! My name is Nancy. I am a lefty and I have three children, a boy and two girls. All three of my children are lefties. Noone on my maternal side is left and only one aunt on paternal side is left. There are several lefties on my husband's side. What are the chances of all my kids being lefties? I think it's awesome! :)
xnWHO cares!! i am right hanged in throwing--i am a switch hitter in baseball i fight as a southpaw would-yet can easily change up depending on the circumstance or opponent,play guitar and drums righty,drive lefty,and generally use both hands gesturing.i fire a pistol righty, a rifle equally left and right. ppoint being is -- who puts all this thought into this subject-we are all unique
Escher held the sphere in his right hand because he was drawing it with his left hand. I thought this would be easy for a lefty to figure out.
Fact is, lefties are superior, look at how many lefties play sports in relation to our amount. Interesting that by your post, the last 4 presidents of US a southpaw.... Proof positive, i think very few people understand how big a problem handism is.
Holy Crap... I swear I thought I was the only lefty in the world to be so enthusiastic about left-handedness. I'm so relieved to know that I'm not alone!
But the trouble with most of these lists of left-handed people... they miss some people out, like Zachary "Zacky Vengeance" Baker, Michael "Moose" Thomas, Joan Jett (musicians), Thomas Gibson, Kirsten Vangsness, and possibly Ian Somerhalder? (Actors) I've been looking up the possibility of Somerhalder being a lefty since I just saw a gif of him (as Damon Salvatore) teaching Nina Dobrev (as Elena Gilbert) to play pool, but they hold the cue lefty. I looked up the possibility of Dobrev being a lefty too but she isn't.
But yeah, I've seen some sources say Somerhalder is a lefty and others say he isn't. Sod's Law dictates he's not. xD
I write (very badly!) with my right hand but use my left for almost everything else... I thought I might be naturally left handed so I picked up the pen in my left... It just felt right (PUN!!!)
James
Lady Gaga is another leftie!
I'm also left handed and an electrical enginer. It's been theorized that left handers have to exist in a right handed world - that's why so many have been technically proficient. One small startup company I worked for only had 10 employees - 7 of them were left handed! And, as for the older generation having a tendency to be right handed, it's most likely that they were forced to change in elementary school by their teachers.
Steve Jobs is not left handed.
http://www.quora.com/Was-Steve-Jobs-left-or-right-handed
Does anybody notice that Jeremy Renner is a left-handed? I saw a picture of his still in The Avengers. He pulls the bow back with his left hand. In fact, Hawkeye (the character he portrays) isn't a left-handed.
Einstein was ambidextrous, most photographs of him at his chalk board show him using his right hand. He was forced to use his right hand as a child despite being left handed.
The act of being forced to use his right hand could well have altered the development of his brain (studies have shown this can increase the density and connectivity of the corpus callosum).
The real question is how many of our historical figures are true right-brained/left-handers? We will never know because of the practice of forcing them to write with their right hands.
Handedness is not always a sign of brain hemisphere dominance, I have come across many left handers who are left-brained, the true right-brained/left handers seem even more rare than the 10% you quote.
I am left handed too, and people always say "wow, i didn't know you were left-handed", it makes you feel special. I know that obama, angelina jolie and justin bieber, ricky martin are lefties too.
okay a bunch of the things you say are inaccurate, if your going to write something on the internet keep it real. Neither Mike Tyson nor Beethoven were left handed, watch mike tyson fight he has a right handed stance and all pictures of beethoven writing are with his right hand. Also there is no evidence that Adolf Hitler was left handed. do not post things that misinform people! By the way I am also left handed and I find alot of the posts people make of left handed people include many right handed people who some seem to think to be southpaws.
Steve McQueen was also left handed.
AUGUST 13TH
INTERNATIONAL LEFT HANDERS DAY; WHAT DO RIGHT HANDED PEOPLE HAVE, NOTHING!
LEFTIES RULE!!!
I think you were wrong about a couple of the famous people being left-handed. George Bush and Osama are not lefties. You over-looked a few others, too. Just saying.
Love this blog. I came here through google as I wanted to know if Steve Jobs was a lefthander. Why? Because I am righthanded and I hate to always have to go to the left top of the screen to x things or when you click on info, the dialogue comes up left. Everything always goes left and then I have to drag it to the right, to manipulate it.
Knowing now he was ambidextrous ( I am slightly too ) my question has been answered. Question is, how to change it. I prob have to change my mouse to be LH as well and operate from the left.
But reading here Bill Gates also is a lefthander makes me think he was thinking of the majority of people when developing his windows, as one closes there on the right side.
Lovely to read about all these famous people being lefthanded, great.
funny how you placed Adolf Hitler in the government and leader category and not the criminal one...lol
Lol! @ d Adolf Hitler comment. Hitlers in d govt section because human rights as we know it today, were codified in international law in 1948. So at the time, there was no written law against human rights abuses. If not, Hitler would have been put in the criminal section.
Im a lefty too!
But you forgot something.
Best footballer ever was leftie:Edson Arantes Do Nascimento Pele.Then legendary Batistuta and Johan Cruyff,Ruud Krol(one of the best defenders ever),Karl-Heinz Schnellinger,Alfredo Di Stefano,Ferenc Puskas,.
Also best footballer now , Lionel Messi.
Then:David Silva,Esteban Cambiasso,Patrice Evra,Ashley Cole,Paolo Maldini,Raul Gonzalez, Robin Van Persie, Robben, Özil, Lukas Podolski , Karem Benzema,Adriano(he was great before) not to mention all the best goalkeepers :Iker Casillas , Petr Cech.
These are just some of the famous lefties in football.
Hitler was right-handed. This list sucks.
Barry Gibb Is Left Handed So Was Andy Gibb!
I'm 28, & unfortunately I was trained right handed when I was learning to write. My teacher would constantly put the pencil in my right hand. So I write, messy, with my right hand. But I turned out ambidextrous. I draw, and when I'm drawing a picture of someone or something, I use my right hand. (My left hand during which remains balled up in a fist. I assume out of habit) but when I'm creating I use my left hand. In sports I kicked left footed.In music I played guitar both ways. Writing on boards I have to use my left hand. My right hand can't neatly write or control lines.I don't mind using both hands to do everything. I can drive a standard with ease. But I do wish I had not been forced as a child to be a righty. My teacher was a Ms. Jensen. She explained to me how she had been made to learn to eight right handed at catholic school as a child. So seeing me, she wanted to "make life easier" like they did for her.
THE BOSTON STRANGLER WAS A LEFTIE
Kurt Russell is not left handed. He taught himself to be left-handed for his role in Miracle, but he is naturally right handed.
The reason for the drop off by age is that up until very recently (like, the 1970's) children were _FORCED_ to be right handed, whether they were left handed or not.
My grandmother is a leftie, but writes with her right hand. Many people over a certain age may never have been given the chance to discover they were left handed.
Given all the other corrections in these comments, this doesn't seem to have been a very well researched post.
im lefthanded too but i suck at everything lol...so maybe ill be a great leader one day
Firstly, I too am lefty. So my viewpoint is lefty. But there are a lot of people on this list and I'd just like to know how you confirm that they are lefty. Like Brando. I looked at a lot of photos and can't find much to support it. That being said. just because you write right handed doesn't make you right handed. People who are switched are still left handed. Also the idea that switching improves the size of your corpus colosseum is not correct. Besides, Einstein was a plagiarist, so it doesn't matter what hand he used. He had such bad math skills that he couldn't get into college.
De Pretto came up with E=Mc2 and Poincare came up with the relativity over a year before Eistein lifted it. That's why he can't account for how he came up with the theory.
Also, if you can write equally well with both hands, your left handed, because only lefties can do that because they have a larger corpus coliseum that connects the brain spheres...
Cheers...
Sorry for the rant. Great site. However I do think that it is important to verify facts.
An excellent is yet incomplete list of famous left handers. Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander come to mind. One nit picky point, though it should read H. Norman Swarzkopf Jr.
The reason for so few at older ages being left handed is because when they would use thier left hand to hold a fork or something, parents would "correct" them by putting it into thier right.
My parents did this with me (53) but they were told it is natural to let me use the hand I prefer.
At the beginning, you say that since you play sports right-handed and write left-handed, you could be considered ambidextrous. Ambidextrous means being able to use BOTH hands equally well: ambi= both; dextrous= skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands. So, no, you are NOT ambidextrous.
What you are is, like me, specific handed. You chose a specific job to do with a specific hand and generally stick with that hand. I'm considered left-handed because I eat and write left-handed. But I play most sports right-handed. Turns out for me, anything that requires fine detail work (eating, cutting, writing, hand sewing) is done with my left. Anything requiring strength (except for using a hammer - cuz I gotta hit the tiny nail head), I use my right.
Some time in the early to mid 1980s, Psychology Today had a wonderful article about handedness.
The first ever feature length documentary about BEING LEFT HANDED. Please spread far and wide to lefties everywhere...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLRMzg5QvIE
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Being-Left-Handed-Movie/258737617643892
Reading this makes me feel better as I was grown up to be told it was bad by my own family . Wasn't my race but my handedness . Now I having nothing but hearts for fathers who is the sons of left.
A little information for those of you so eager to pride yourselves of your handedness. Claims for the left-handedness of Michelangelo appear to rest on a single anecdotal reference by a left-handed contemporary artist. Analysis of his hatching, though, suggests that he was in fact right-handed. Also, unlike in the case of Leonardo da Vinci, there is no mention of any unusual handedness from any of Michelangelo’s biographers. The idea sometimes proffered that Michelangelo’s depiction of Adam in the Sistine Chapel (in which Adam is shown extending his left hand) is evidence of Michelangelo’s left-handedness - or even Adam’s for that matter - is frankly ludicrous.
There is even some evidence that left-handed poster boy Leonardo da Vinci may not have been naturally left-handed. He clearly did use his left hand to draw and paint with: there seems little doubt about that. However, some research suggests that he may have been forced to use his left hand due to some accident or deformity of his right (in much the same way as Thomas Carlyle and King Edward III - also usually listed as left-handed - were forced to become left-handed).
Albrecht Dürer is, for some reason, usually regarded as left-handed, although with little corroborating evidence, and the jury remains out due to lack of evidence either way. The same applies to Raphael and to Peter Paul Rubens, who are also commonly reported as left-handed. Vincent Van Gogh was painted by Paul Gaugin as a right-hander and there appears to be no evidence to the contrary,despite the claims of many websites. Edvard Munch sometimes appears on lists of left-handed artists, but his only left hand connection is that, at one point in his life, he injured his left hand in a gun-shot accident. Rembrandt van Rijn is sometimes claimed by the left camp, but has been definitively shown to have been right-handed. Pablo Picasso was also demonstrably right-handed, with clear modern documentary evidence to prove it, and his identification as a left-hander appears to be nothing more than wishful thinking.
On the positive side, Hans Holbein the Younger (although not his father, the Elder) and M.C. Escher both appear to be convincingly left-handed. Paul Klee painted with both his left and right hands, although he preferred the left (however, he wrote with his right). The 19th Century French painter Raoul Dufy was naturally right-handed and wrote with his right hand, but taught himself to paint and draw with his left and even came to prefer it, and so represents a sort of “honorary left-hander”.
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