Twenty percent of Brits think Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Blackadder are real historical figures

Holmes (Wikipedia)

One in five British people surveyed believe that Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Blackadder are genuine historical figures. As well, others think that Clark Kent and Indiana Jones were actual people. It's a two way street with fictional and real: others believe Che Guevara, Florence Nightingale and outlaw Jesse James were fictional characters, not real.

Ask Jeeves commissioned the survey after seeing a rise in the number of questions it receives for biographies and details on the lives of fictional characters, such as a family tree.

A 2008 survey of British teens found that twenty percent of them believe Sir Winston Churchill was a fictional character, while many think Eleanor Rigby was real.

Speaking of the current survey, Ask Jeeves spokeswoman Nadia Kelly said, "Some of the confusion is possibly justified - a lot of people hadn't heard of Erin Brockovich until the movie."

Or possibly not.

Winston Churchill  (Wikipedia)