A left-handed person naturally uses their left hand for most tasks that require skill and precision, like writing, throwing a ball, or using scissors. About one in ten people are left-handed, meaning the other nine out of ten are right-handed.

For much of human history, being left-handed was seen as unusual or even suspicious. Some schools once forced left-handed students to write with their right hands. Today many people understand that hand preference is simply how your brain is wired, nothing more. Many successful athletes, artists, and inventors have been left-handed, from baseball legend Babe Ruth to inventor Benjamin Franklin to artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Left-handed people face small daily challenges most right-handed people never notice. Scissors, can openers, and even spiral notebooks are usually designed for right-handed users. Desks with attached writing surfaces almost always have the surface on the right side. When a left-handed person writes with a pencil, their hand can smudge what they just wrote.

The term can also describe objects made for left-handed use, like left-handed scissors or a left-handed baseball glove. Interestingly, there's no advantage to being right-handed or left-handed, just different ways our minds and bodies naturally work together.