Interesting fact on spiral stairs

As a builder of both full size and miniature spiral staircases, I was fascinated to find the following history on spiral stairs. As with many architectural designs, the spiral staircase has its roots in old European history. They were used as a defense mechanism for castles. When looking up from the bottom, exterior stairs were typically built against the walls of the towers in a clock-wise direction and in a counter-clock wise direction when on the inside of the tower walls. With the majority of swordsmen being right-handed, this design allowed the defending swordsman to swing his sword freely while either coming down the stairs or backing up in reverse, while the attacker, who again was usually right-handed, would have his swing blocked by the walls and the lack of a handrail made it easier to knock your opponent off the stairs. Also interesting, if you happened to be a left-handed swordsman, you were worth more than twice the price of a right-handed swordsman. Who knew. Go southpaws !!!