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People think Churchill was a myth???

post #1 of 29
2/3/08 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Um, this is weird.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204...historyoffbeat
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post #2 of 29
2/3/08 at 9:31pm
Well, at least the US doesn't have the corner on the idiots of the world of facts. You know, the ones who think Canada is a state or can't find the US on a map?
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post #3 of 29
2/3/08 at 9:39pm
hummm ... yeah this is up their with the college students who didnt know that washington dc is not a state...
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post #4 of 29
2/3/08 at 10:43pm
Wow! 47% thought that King Richard the Lionheart was a myth?!?

Ghandi...Duke of Wellington...Churchill?

Isn't history taught any more?
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post #5 of 29
2/4/08 at 2:18am
I'm 49 and the only thing i remember of him when i was a child was the day of his funeral. Other than that, apart from what my parents told me he was never spoke of in history, it was usually the battle of Hastings, the Romans etc.. that we learnt about.

It's very sad.
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post #6 of 29
2/4/08 at 2:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
Isn't history taught any more?
Nope, you should see my nephew's history book for school.
According to his book the Pilgrim's came to american for elbow room.
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post #7 of 29
2/4/08 at 5:01am
Weird, WII history is part of the national curriculum, everyone *should* know Churchill existed!

As far as being up there with people thinking Canada is a state, Bush didn't help matters calling Ontario a state but seriously - in both countries, we really need to rethink our education policies
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post #8 of 29
2/4/08 at 7:24am
It's a "survey" done by UK Gold television of all people, I'm not going to get too excited about it.
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post #9 of 29
2/4/08 at 11:41am
That doesn't surprise me in the least.

Ever hear Sean Hannity's radio program? He has a "Man on the Street" segment where he has someone go down on the streets of New York and poll people.
They ask them questions like, "Who is the President of the United States"
"Who is the Vice President of the U.S.", "Who is the Secretary of State"

9 times out of 10 the people don't have a clue. Sad.


(I think it is probably Bush's fault)
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post #10 of 29
2/4/08 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
That doesn't surprise me in the least.

Ever hear Sean Hannity's radio program? He has a "Man on the Street" segment where he has someone go down on the streets of New York and poll people.
They ask them questions like, "Who is the President of the United States"
"Who is the Vice President of the U.S.", "Who is the Secretary of State"

9 times out of 10 the people don't have a clue. Sad.


(I think it is probably Bush's fault)
you what, i would not take these things to heart.
I got asked once like who was presdent and stuff,
i gave all the wrong answers just cause i could
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post #11 of 29
2/4/08 at 8:07pm
umm I know the first two but didnt the sec of state change recently??
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post #12 of 29
2/4/08 at 8:27pm
...and we never landed on the moon...
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post #13 of 29
2/5/08 at 6:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by theimp98 View Post
you what, i would not take these things to heart.
I got asked once like who was presdent and stuff,
i gave all the wrong answers just cause i could
Hmm, now why does that not surprise me.

I certainly can't comment on school ciriculum in today's world, but when we went to school in eastern Canada we had to learn a lot of history among other things. We also had to memorize all of the US states and their capitals along with overseas countries and capitals and major cities. I don't for a moment suspect our current studies include any of those criteria though.

We even had to learn English grammar and how to spell which I also believe is a lost art these days. And since New Brunswick is a bilingual Province we were required to study French from Grade 5 until graduation at Grade 12.
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post #14 of 29
2/5/08 at 9:39am
England is not bilingual and the curriculum states you learn French until at least the end of Grade 9 and another language for Grades 7-9

I checked with my mum and WWII history is now an optional Grade 10 history course
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post #15 of 29
2/5/08 at 2:32pm
Really?! They've changed things in the last couple of years! From years 7-9 half my year learned French and the other half learned Spanish. WWII was briefly covered in year 8 history, and more throughly in our GCSEs- but covered the Hitler side of things rather than the allies, it was fascinating though.

TBH considering the kind of people likely to be polled by UK TV Gold I'm not worried about the nation's intelligence.
I just found this article, which does give me some hope as I find it harder to understand older people thinking Churchill was a myth than the young and dumb. I'm still ashamed though.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...history104.xml

My dad's surname is Holmes, and he once convinced an American journalist that Sherlock Holmes was a distant relation.


And then I found this:
http://uktv.co.uk/gold/stepbystep/aid/598605
The Mona Lisa was certainly a portrait of a real person, and Dick Turpin existed too, so that list of mythical people is bothering me...
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post #16 of 29
2/5/08 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cata_mint
TBH considering the kind of people likely to be polled by UK TV Gold I'm not worried about the nation's intelligence.
What is their target audience?
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post #17 of 29
2/5/08 at 3:04pm
Its just cheap repeats of old BBC programs, mostly Only Fools and Horses and Blackadder, so would probably appeal to those who like to talk about the good old days and (generalising wildly here) the youth of today. Daytime tv for those old enough to remember the programs the first time around.
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post #18 of 29
2/5/08 at 3:05pm
I saw that! It seems people did not pay attention in history class.
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post #19 of 29
2/5/08 at 3:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cata_mint View Post
From years 7-9 half my year learned French and the other half learned Spanish. ...
My friends daughter teaches 7 year olds and she told me they've started teaching them languages now as well
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post #20 of 29
2/5/08 at 3:21pm
I think learning history is much more important than learning a second language. I would be so embarrassed if I were that darn ignorant regarding history.
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post #21 of 29
2/5/08 at 3:27pm
so if churchill is now becoming a myth.
what should do with all his books he wrote?
both here and the ones i have overseas
and does that mean that robin hood was real?? hehe
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post #22 of 29
2/5/08 at 4:13pm
History always seemed liked it was rushed when I went to school. I remember my freshman year of high school going all of the way from Ancient Egypt to Vietnam. That's ridiculous, IMO. My senior year American Government was a required course but it seems to me that a better way teaching history would have been to concentrate on Ancient History the first year, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the following year, the industrial revolution and modern history for the junior year and American History and Government for the senior year.

I remember learning about the Pilgrims, the War for Independence and other parts of American history through grade/grammer school.

I understand that math, reading and writing get most of the attention, rightfully so but history seems to be an after thought. Wasn't it George Santayana who said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."?
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post #23 of 29
2/5/08 at 5:20pm
Well, I guess it shows that ignorance is universal? (I was aware of instances like this in the US.) It's really a bit depressing....
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post #24 of 29
2/5/08 at 8:09pm
We learned French and either Spanish or German for years 7-9. WWII history was mostly Year 10 when I did GCSEs but was covered generally beforehand, but I don't know if it was indepth enough to know about Churchill.

A big group here in Toronto, with many political supporters is the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, their events are attended by both left and right wing politicians. Funny, he seems to have more standing here than back home.
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post #25 of 29
2/6/08 at 3:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I think learning history is much more important than learning a second language. I would be so embarrassed if I were that darn ignorant regarding history.
Of course it is, but it's your education authority/goverment that's at fault not the kids.
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post #26 of 29
2/6/08 at 3:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I think learning history is much more important than learning a second language. I would be so embarrassed if I were that darn ignorant regarding history.
Learning a second language would have a high priority if you lived in a (relatively) small country with a language almost nobody else speaks. Scandinavian, Japanese, and S. Korean companies didn't manage to become global players by insisting business be done in their native languages.

French was for quite some time the international language, and there's no reason to believe that English will continue to play its current role for more than another century, if that.

History is equally important, not more so.
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post #27 of 29
2/6/08 at 6:23am
with the current picks we hvae for leaders in this country.
i doubt another 4 years.
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post #28 of 29
2/6/08 at 7:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I think learning history is much more important than learning a second language. I would be so embarrassed if I were that darn ignorant regarding history.
I think they are both important and cannot see why both shouldn't be part of any ciriculum. A second language is very important in some countries, Canada for instance has 2 official languages and if one is fluent in French as well as English the job market is much better and the pay is higher. My best friend sent her son to an all-French school from Kindergarten through to the end of high school (she married a Frenchman from France so both languages were spoken in their home and she spent 7 months in France after her marriage in order to learn the language herself). Her son graduated from U of T and immediately has a great, high paying job in one of Canada's largest financial institues where he earns more starting than my hubby does after working 30 plus years. Most of his large income is due to his fluency in French since in Canada all companies pretty much need people who can operate in the Quebec/Northern NB arena where mostly French is spoken/written.
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post #29 of 29
2/6/08 at 8:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lunasmom View Post
...and we never landed on the moon...
It's all the conspiracy people out there
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