Quarter of British think Winston Churchill was myth: poll

celeb_2006 · February 4th, 2008, 12:02 AM

Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth: poll - Yahoo! News

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.
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.

sputnik · February 4th, 2008, 04:53 AM

god, people are getting more and more stupid and uneducated by the hour. part of me wishes someone would poison the water.

msdebagain · February 4th, 2008, 04:55 AM

when i was in Junior High (a fewwww years ago) a girl refused to write a paper on Florence Nightingale, because she said she did not exist.

Chilly Willy · February 4th, 2008, 05:01 AM

This has been posted before.

Ravenna · February 4th, 2008, 11:00 AM

It better have been 10 year-olds they polled. Otherwise there is just no excuse for such ignorance.

Dixie Normos · February 4th, 2008, 11:04 AM

Flo Nightingale existed...but didn't she die of some venerial disease?

witchcurlgirl · February 4th, 2008, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie Normos

Flo Nightingale existed...but didn't she die of some venerial disease?

she lived to be 90.....was sickly at the end, but the prevelant modern theory was she was suffering from CFS or Epstein Barr

Dixie Normos · February 4th, 2008, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witchcurlgirl

she lived to be 90.....was sickly at the end, but the prevelant modern theory was she was suffering from CFS or Epstein Barr

Is CFS Cystic Fibrosis? coz if it is, she would never, ever have lived that long. It's like drowning in your own soupy lungs. No one lives past 30 or so.

witchcurlgirl · February 4th, 2008, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie Normos

Is CFS Cystic Fibrosis? coz if it is, she would never, ever have lived that long. It's like drowning in your own soupy lungs. No one lives past 30 or so.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

pacific breeze · February 4th, 2008, 06:26 PM

I believe this poll. I was teaching presentation skills once and played a famous Churchill speech. Quite a few of my students -- ranging in age from 18-55 -- had no idea who he was.

sputnik · February 5th, 2008, 06:13 AM

^^^
that kind of thing just depresses me and makes me lose hope in people.

Honey · February 9th, 2008, 06:36 PM

Even I knew he was real!

Aella · February 9th, 2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sputnik

^^^
that kind of thing just depresses me and makes me lose hope in people.

You still had any hope left?

pacific breeze · February 9th, 2008, 11:15 PM

^^Some of us are hopeless idealists, Aella. I don't think there's a cure for it, lol.

Aella · February 10th, 2008, 09:27 AM

^^Heh, I used to be one. But I've found that for this, as for other things, lowered expectations help to avoid disappointment.

Or else I'm just enjoying being a misanthrope!