Britons flunk history test
Britons flunk history test
London
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BRITONS are losing a grip on fact and fiction — with nearly one in four believing Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale are myths, while over half think Sherlock Holmes actually existed.
In a survey, 47% of people thought that Richard the Lionheart, the 12th century English king, was a myth.
They were also under the impression that Charles Dickens was a fictional character himself.
Indian political leader Gandhi; Cleopatra, ruler of ancient Egypt; adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh; British military leader Bernard Montgomery; and Boadicea, famous for leading an uprising against occupying Roman forces, were all thought to be characters dreamt up for films and books.
Britons thought fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes and pilot Biggles were real, according to the survey of 3000 people commissioned to celebrate UKTV Gold's forthcoming Robin Hood season.
Over half of those questioned (58%) believe that the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his novels of the late 1880s actually lived in Baker Street, with sidekick Dr Watson.
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People thinking Holmes to be real is not surprising.
ReplyDeleteBut, what is positively strange is that they think Sir Churchill is fictional. The great leader, who bravely led England in the Second World War against the German onslaught.
B2B.
What are we lacking in our education system?
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