Southpaws Trivia Quiz

Answer: George W. Bush

Did you know that, up to and including President Obama, an incredible five out of the last seven US presidents were left-handed? In fact, only George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter were right-handed (with Ronald Reagan possibly ambidextrous). When you consider that only 10% of the world is left-handed*, that is really extraordinary. Despite all that power in the hands of lefties, you would think more gadgets, e.g., scissors, desks, cooking tools, would be lefty accessible.
*According to "Live Science" April 27, 2012.

Answer: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Unlike recent US presidents, the US Supreme Court is extremely right-centric, that is, of the nine justices who were appointed between 1986 and 2010, only Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy are southpaws. However, that still exceeds the 10% ratio. Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, having been appointed by President Bill Clinton, and only the second woman on the Supreme Court (after Sandra Day O'Connor).

She took the oath of office on August 10, 1993.

Answer: Prince William

Of the above royals, only Prince William of Cambridge is a lefty. William is first in line to succeed his father, King Charles III, on the British throne. However, the British royal bloodline does include such notable royals as Queen Victoria (now second longest reigning British Monarch), King George VI, and the Queen Mother.

It is also likely that Prince George of Cambridge will follow in his father's footsteps (er, handedness).

Answer: Earvin Johnson

It seems unlikely that so many of the great professional athletes are left-handed, but it is disproportionately so (except for golf, where the percentage is only 4%). While Magic Johnson is right-handed like 90% of the world, basketball greats, Lebron James, Willis Reed, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Lenny Wilkens and David Robinson are all southpaws.

This is true in other sports, e.g., Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Sandy Koufax, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Frazier, Pele, Rafael Nadal, and golf's Phil Mickelson.

Answer: Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has served as Israel's Prime Minister, having assumed office in 2009, and is a member of the Knesset and Chairman of the Likud Party. Netanyahu is the only prime minister in Israel's history to have been elected three times in a row.

Other great left-handed statesmen in history have included: Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne and Napoleon, Mahatma Gandhi, Simon Bolivar and Winston Churchill.

Answer: J.M. Barrie

Here again, we seem to have a disproportionate number of great writers who used their left hands. Of the choices above, only J.M. Barrie, of "Peter Pan" fame, is a righty. James Baldwin ("Go Tell It on the Mountain"), Lewis Carroll ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland") and Douglas Adams ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") all used their left hands to produce their works (unless they used a typewriter or computer).

Answer: Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win an Academy Award as Best Director. She won for her 2008 film "The Hurt Locker" and, like most people in the world, she is right-handed. However, directors Ridley Scott ("Blade Runner"), Spike Lee ("Do the Right Thing") and James Cameron ("Titanic") all do their directing from the left side.

Answer: Bill Gates

Among the richest men in the world, Bill Gates is a member of the club of left-handers. Gates is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, programmer and co-founder of Microsoft in 1975. He is on the Forbes List of World's Richest People. Speaking of Forbes, publisher Steve Forbes is another lefty, as well as H. Ross Perot and Nelson Rockefeller.

Answer: Claude Monet

Talk about disproportionate, look at the famous left-handed artists and you will notice that their numbers include many of the worlds's best and most renowned: Michelangelo, da Vinci, Picasso, Rembrandt, Durer and Klee!
Claude Monet (1840-1926), the co-founder of French Impressionist painting was right-handed, as was Van Gogh, Gaugin, Toulouse-Lautrec and many others, but that is to be expected.

Answer: Marie Curie

Did you know that Marie Curie (1867-1934), Nobel winning chemist, physicist and discoverer of polonium and radium, was left-handed? A left-handed woman scientist in the 1800s? How remarkable! Unfortunately, her discoveries led her to an early death. In our group of distinguished lefty scientists, we must also include Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.
Perhaps left-handed people are only 10% of the population, but their contributions to society are immeasurable!