- While coronavirus has pushed most to abstain from handshakes, some are exploring the origin of the greeting.
- In 1870, NYC magazine Harper’s Weekly suggested that handshaking started during “early and barbarous times” as a sign of peace “to show that the hand was empty”.
- The greeting was ritualized in gamesmanship and politics as a sign of respect before trickling down to common, everyday interactions.
- Historians believe handshaking spread from Europe to the rest of the world via missionaries.
