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Brits think Churchill 'fake'

Britons are losing a grip on fact and fiction - with nearly one in four believing Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale are myths and more than half thinking Sherlock Holmes actually existed.

In a new 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, one of the most famous writers in English literature, was a fictional character himself.

Indian political leader Gandhi; Cleopatra, ruler of ancient Egypt; adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh; British military leader Bernard Montgomery; and Boudica, famous for leading a major uprising against occupying Roman forces, were all thought to be characters dreamt up for films and books.

Britons thought fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes and pilot Biggles were real, according to the survey of 3,000 by UKTV.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .