August 13 marks a special day for all left-handers as it is a day observed to raise awareness of the struggles left-handed people face when attempting to live in a right-handed world. It is the International Left-Handers Day.

To name a few celebrities, Amitabh Bachchan, Bill Gates, Rajnikanth, Sachin Tendulkar, and Ratan Tata are all left-handers. Interestingly, celebrated Tennis player Rafael Nadal is actually right-handed but learned to play with the left hand for an advantage in the game!

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Let’s see how the day is relevant, its importance, and its history.

Interesting facts:

1. Almost 10-12 percent of the population consists of left-handers.

2. A study published in the academic book “Cerebral Dominance: The Biological Foundations” revealed that left-handed people had an 11-fold higher risk of allergies than right-handed people.

3. According to a 2007 study – “Effect of Handedness on Intelligence Level of Students,” lefties are more likely to have higher IQs than righties.

4. 23% more men are left-handed than women, according to the 2008 study “Sex differences in left-handedness: a meta-analysis of 144 studies.”

5. The Illinois Research Consortium’s 2008 data revealed that left- and right-handed people approach to task and memory performance in different ways, concluding that left-handers are more likely to be better at multitasking.

6. Tennis players, swimmers, and boxers are all sports in which lefties excel particularly well (almost 40% of the top tennis players at the moment are lefties).
In essence, lefties are best at individual sports, or sports that are not team-based. This is due to the fact that right-handed players are more accustomed to playing against other right-handed players than left-handed players.

7. Also, did you know, that of the most recent US Presidents, five out of nine were left-handed? Although the list doesn’t include the current US President Joe Biden it does have the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford.

8. Speaking about Royalty, the Future monarch of England Princes Charles is also left-handed. His son, The Duke of Cambridge William is also left-handed. King George VI, who was also left-handed, was made to learn how to use his right hand by his father.

History and significance of the day

Dean R. Campbell established International Lefthanders Day in 1976 to raise awareness of the challenges lefties face on a daily basis. He founded the ‘Left-Handers International Inc.’ and ever since the day is celebrated every year on August 13.