Buzz Lightyear Was 1st Man on Moon: 20% of Brit Kids

Survey finds kids in UK know more about celebrities than history
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2010 4:28 AM CDT
1 in 5 Kids Thinks Buzz Lightyear Was First Man on Moon
Jessie and Buzz Lightyear are seen in a scene from "Toy Story 3."   (AP Photo/Disney Pixar, File)

Another day, another staggering study on British knowledge, this one focused on the wee ones. A fifth of children ages 6 to 12 believe the first person to walk on the moon was actually Toy Story spaceman Buzz Lightyear, not Neil Armstrong, according to a survey of thousands of schoolchildren. It found that many knew far more about celebrities like Britney Spears than they did about historical and political figures. For instance, a sixth identified Darth Vader's Deathstar as the furthest planet from Earth.

A fifth believed Charles Darwin invented the telephone, and 10% believed Albert Einstein was Frankenstein's brother. What did they know? Two-thirds knew that Cheryl Cole suffered from malaria, and the same number correctly identified David Beckham as the player to be most recently dropped by Fabio Capello. (More children stories.)

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