<p>So it appears that 90% of the world's population is right-handed . . . but the left-handers are clearly running the show. Coincidence? Hmmmmmmm:</p>
<p>Left-Handed Royals and Other Sinister Facts </p>
<p>About 90 percent of people are right-handed. Most of the rest are distinctly left-handed, though some are ambidextrous to one degree or another. </p>
<p>When both parents are right-handed, 92 percent of their children are. When one parent is left-handed, about 80 percent of the children are right-handed. When both parents are left-handed, about half their children are right-handed. </p>
<p>Left-handedness runs in families. In the British royal family, for example, the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Prince William are all left-handed. </p>
<p>Males are somewhat more likely than females to be left-handed. There is some evidence that the children of left-handed mothers and right-handed fathers are more likely to be left-handed than are the children of right-handed mothers and left-handed fathers. </p>
<p>In a striking 18 percent of identical twins, products of the same egg with exactly the same genetic makeup, one twin is right-handed and the other left-handed. There also seems to be a higher proportion of fraternal twins with different handedness than is the case with other siblings. </p>
<p>The left hemisphere of the brain controls the motor coordination of right-handed people, and the right hemisphere controls it in lefties. In almost all instances, the speech and language of right-handed people are controlled by the left side of their brain. But in left-handed people, the right hemisphere controls speech and language in at least 30 percent of the cases. </p>
<p>A much larger percentage of young people than old people are left-handed. This may be, as one researcher suggests, because lefties die earlier. Or it may be because in an earlier time, natural lefties were taught to write and perform other tasks with their right hands and now think of themselves as right-handed. </p>
<p>A disproportionate number of lefties seem to be geniuses (Einstein), artists (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Picasso) and athletes (Babe Ruth). A disproportionate number also seem to be criminals (Jack the Ripper, Billy the Kid). </p>
<p>Except for Jimmy Carter, every president for the last quarter-century has been left-handed. There is no question about Gerald R. Ford, George Bush or Bill Clinton. Ronald Reagan writes and eats with his right hand. But Edmund Morris, the Reagan biographer, has little doubt that Mr. Reagan is a natural lefty who is one of those who were trained to use their right hands. In the movies, Mr. Morris says, Mr. Reagan always twirled and shot pistols with his left hand, and as president, he always waved with his left hand. The presidential string is about to be broken. Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush are both right-handed. </p>
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<p>50 FAMOUS LEFTIES</p>
<p>Historical Figures
Alexander the Great
Charlemagne
Julius Caesar
Napoleon Bonaparte
Dr. Albert Schweitzer </p>
<p>People in the News
Gen. Colin L. Powell
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
Fidel Castro
Steve Forbes
Ross Perot </p>
<p>Entertainers (past)
Marilyn Monroe
Greta Garbo
Judy Garland
W. C. Fields
Charlie Chaplin </p>
<p>Entertainers (present)
Oprah Winfrey
Whoopie Goldberg
Jay Leno
Jerry Seinfeld
Robert Redford </p>
<p>Artists
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Pablo Picasso
Raphael
Albrecht Dürer </p>
<p>Authors
Mark Twain
Lewis Carroll
Eudora Welty
James Baldwin
Peter Benchley </p>
<p>Athletes
Ben Hogan
Mark Spitz
Pelé
Bill Russell
Bruce Jenner </p>
<p>Music
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ringo Starr
Paul McCartney
Cole Porter
Jimi Hendrix </p>
<p>Law
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
Marcia Clark
Clarence Darrow
F. Lee Bailey </p>
<p>Criminals
John Dillinger
Billy the Kid
Boston Strangler
Jack-the-Ripper
John Wesley Hardin </p>
<p>Sources: Left-Hander's Newsletter; Dr. M. K. Holder, Indiana University</p>