Famous left handers

I came across a video on You Tube the other day that lists famous left handers - everyone from Einstein and Napoleon to Bill Gates and Leonardo da Vinci. Take a look at these famous southpaws.

Videos for left handers

Here's a handy set of videos for all southpaws, courtesy of Anything Lefthanded. They explain how left-handed items work - from smudge-free pens to can openers.

Here's the link

7 out of 12 cats...

Just pondering on my post from Nov 5th, about Barack Obama being left handed...Considering that only 10% of us are left-handed, it's pretty surprising that since the second world war, half of the presidents (six of 12) have been left-handed. In January, that figure will rise to seven out of 12.

Both McCain and Obama are lefties, but ALL THREE candidates in 1992 were left-handed (Bush Snr, Clinton and Perot).

Southpaw chimpanzees

A three-year study of 17 wild chimpanzees in Tanzania found that 12 of them used their left hands when using sticks to probe for termites.

Only four were right-handed, as one used both hands to dig out the ants.

The strange thing is, the researchers (from Emory University in Atlanta)reported a right-handed preference when the chimps cracked open nuts.

Good news for left handers

I read the other day that there is a scholarship especially for left-handed students!

It's the Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship, worth up to US$1,000, that's awarded to left-handed students of Juniata College in the States. I'm not sure who May F. Beckley was, but I did discover she used to attend Juniata College and she left this bequest in 1979.

So, we southpaws are not always discriminated against. :)

Left-handed president

Congratulations to Barack Obama who will be the fifth US president out of seven to be left handed!

Did you know that Al Gore is also left handed? So this would have meant the sixth out of seven, had he won back in 2000.

Are you left or right eyed?

Do you know which is your dominant eye? Try this quick test:

Stretch your arms out in front of you, level with your face, and make a small triangle with your hands, as per the photo.

Pick a focal point in front of you (eg: picture on the wall, or whatever), then look through the triangle with both your eyes open.

Now close your left eye. If your target object remains in view, you are right eye dominant. If your hands appear to move off the object and move to the left, you are left eye dominant.