Sam, Tinkle’s resident know-it-all and certified lefty, has some fascinating facts about being left-handed for International Left Handers Day.

• Did you know that there used to be a stigma against left-handed people in ancient Europe? The word sinister, meaning evil, also means left in Latin. The Russian term for left ‘na levo’ also means sneaky. Ancient Greeks thought left-handed people were imperfect.
• However, the Incans, a civilization of people from South America, highly respected and honoured lefties.
• About 10 per cent of the world’s population is left-handed.
• While we don’t yet know for sure why some people are left-handed, we do know that about 25 per cent of the time, our genes are responsible for handedness. Families with lefties tend to have left-handed children.
• You’d think that identical twins, who have the same genes, would have the same dominant hand, but they can sometimes have different dominant hands. But it’s more common for twins to be lefties. One study found that about 21 per cent of both identical and fraternal twins are left-handed.
• Most righties use the left half of their brains to process language. However, it’s a myth that most lefties use the right side of their brains. Almost 98 per cent of righties are left-brained, but almost 70 per cent of lefties are also left-brained!
• Several studies show that left-handed people are better at combat and sports than right-handed people. Both left- and right-handed people usually train against right-handed opponents. So when righties face a left-handed opponent, they are not used to moves coming at them from the left. They get confused and lose.
• There are several well-known left-handed people, ranging from sportspeople to scientists to artists. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mary Kom, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton and Pablo Picasso are some famous lefties.