Story Highlights
- historical event: An unusual oddity was that his father had six fingers on both hands, while Jimi Hendrix was left-handed but nonetheless played right-handed guitars.
Jimi Hendrix, according to many the best guitarist of all time, was born on this day. He was born during World War II, in Seattle. Interestingly, his father was partly of Indian origin – namely, one of his great-grandmothers was a Cherokee Indian. An unusual oddity is the fact that his father had six fingers on both hands. His father and mother were married only three days before his father went to war.
When Jimi was born, his mother named him Johnny Allen Hendrix, but when his father returned from the war he changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of his deceased brother. Hendrix himself later took the name Jimi, short for James. Jimi Hendrix was born left-handed, but he played right-handed guitars that were turned upside down and restrung.
