International Left-Handers Day
Left Handers' Day, 2001
Date13 August
Next time13 August 2024 (2024-08-13)
Frequencyannual

International Left Handers Day is an international day observed annually on August 13 to celebrate the uniqueness and differences of left-handed individuals. The day was first observed in 1976 by Dean R. Campbell founder of the Left-handers Club. This day was established to raise awareness about the challenges and experiences faced by left-handed individuals in a predominantly right-handed world.

[1][2]

International Lefthanders Day was created to celebrate sinistrality and raise awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of being left-handed in a predominantly right-handed world. It celebrates left-handed people's uniqueness and differences, a subset of humanity comprising seven to ten percent of the world's population.[3] The day also spreads awareness on issues faced by left-handers, e.g. the importance of the special needs for left-handed children, and the likelihood for left-handers to develop schizophrenia.[4][5]

Several media outlets and commercial associations have made one-off posts and compilations of accomplished left-handed people in recognition of the holiday.[6][7]

Further reading

  • Flatt, Adrian (October 1999). "The sinister handed". FRCS BUMC Proceedings. 12 (4): 267–271. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  • O'Brian, Bill (13 August 2006). "For One Minority, a Bias That's Just So Not Right". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2014.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to International Lefthanders Day.
  1. ^ "International Left-Handers Day: Here Are Some Famous Lefties". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  2. ^ A 1983 newspaper feature cites that year's observance as the "seventh annual": Waga, Phil. "In the World of Lefties, Nothing Seems Right." Yonkers (NY) Herald-Statesmen, 12 August 1983.
  3. ^ Scharoun, Sara M.; Bryden, Pamela J. (2014-02-18). "Hand preference, performance abilities, and hand selection in children". Frontiers in Psychology. 5: 82. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00082. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 3927078. PMID 24600414.
  4. ^ "Left-handed people more likely to have psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia: Yale Study". Yale. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  5. ^ "The New Neuroscience of Left-Handedness". Psychology Today. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  6. ^ Left Handers Day - Behind the News, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-05-21
  7. ^ Happy National Left-Handers Day!, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-05-21
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