Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth: poll

[Hugo Chavez]

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;_ylt=Ap7Zb2GNtQcSgxwh_NpQTsCs0NUE

[OzmO]

And they say masses of people in the modern age cannot be manipulated.   

I'd be interested to know if the same type of thing has been done in the USA.   I remember a few years back some study was done where an obscene percentage of high school grads could not explain where Japan was.

In the most religious country in the world that is so far long in proving that we reject facts for beliefs, and score pathetically low in education, i'd bet we'd actually do worse than England.