Poll: Fifth of British Teens Believe Churchill a Myth

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Poll: Fifth of British Teens Believe Churchill a Myth

A poll released in Britain today shows that a fifth of British teens believe Winston Churchill was a myth, while 65 percent believe King Arthur was real and led a round table of knights at Camelot.

The Telegraphreports:

Despite his celebrated military reputation, 47 percent of respondents dismissed the 12th-century crusading English King Richard the Lionheart as fictional. More than a quarter (27 percent) thought Florence Nightingale, the pioneering nurse who coaxed injured soldiers back to health in the Crimean War, was a mythical figure.In contrast, a series of fictitious characters that have featured in British films and literature over the past few centuries were awarded real-life status. King Arthur is the mythical figure most commonly mistaken for fact—almost two thirds of teens (65 percent) believe that he existed and led a round table of knights at Camelot.Sherlock Holmes, the detective, was so convincingly brought to life in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels, their film versions and television series, that 58 percent of respondents believe that the sleuth really lived at 221B Baker Street.Fifty-one percent of respondents believed that Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest, robbing the rich to give to the poor, while 47 percent believed Eleanor Rigby was a real person rather than a creation of the Beatles.

The survey uncovered another telling fact that explains, at least partially, why British teens have such ludicrous perceptions of their own history. “More than three quarters of those polled (77 percent) admitted they did not read history books, and 61 percent said that they changed channels rather than watch historical programs on television.”

These survey results indicate a broader movement in Britain that despises history and refuses to give it weight in educational curriculums. Trouncing history has become an educational plague in this nation. Read about the vital importance of history to national health in the Trumpet’s series “A Law of History,” written by editor in chief Gerald Flurry.