Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth

[bdk]

Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth

LONDON (AFP) - Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

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The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204/od_afp/britainpeoplehistoryoffbeat

I'd laugh at the Brits over this but I read about another survey that said the majority of Americans think Elvis is still alive...

[Canberra Man]

So true, I am surrounded with these nerds. Its the education thats at fault as ever. Education stinks in the UK. I thank I was educated in the thirties and forties when education was education and the teachers knew what they were talking about. The brit teaachers are on a parr with their pupils nowadays -- Dim. If they had half the knowledge teachers had in my day, they would be 100% better off. We are strangled in the UK by the Good Goody Brigade. The stupid Health and Safety Executive. Also, the religious fanatics who say thou shalt not do this, that and the other!!On top of that we have an equally stupid government with a leader who tells as many lies as Bliar did. Roll on demob!!

Ken

[bdk]

Such a rich history to forget or discount!

[Anowreck]

Being somewhat involved in education (so stinging a little from Canberra Man's coments), I was thinking about this survey: it was for UKTV Gold...one of the world's experts in Market Research (not), but definitely in need of a good headline! So, it's a survey of 3000 people, and the results extended to cover a nation of 60 million....well, I don't know whether that makes it fit the "Lies, darn lies and statistics" slot, or the one marked "79.5632% of all statistics are made up". UKTV Gold suggest that 23% of 60 million think Churchill is a myth - that's 13.8 million people - and it certainly sounds bad.

But Churchill died in 1965, since which time we have had about 10million new citizens arrive, many of whom don't know much about the history of their country of origin, let alone their new homeland. And there are about 4 million kids here under the age of 7, and they won't have started learning history yet.

I bet that if you surveyed the USA, you would find that 25% of the USA think Homer Simpson is a myth.

Err.....you mean he isn't?