Sherna Noah
Britons are losing their grip on fact and fiction - with nearly one in four believing Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale are myths, and more than half think Sherlock Holmes actually existed, according to a poll It also revealed that 47% of people thought Richard the Lionheart, the 12th century English king, was a myth.
They were also under the impression writer 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 Boudica, famous for leading a major uprising against occupying Roman forces, were all thought to be dreamt up for films and books, according to the survey of 3000 people commissioned by UKTV Gold.
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