Anyone been watching the polls in the papers lately? There was one for the 100 greatest Brits ever, which was fairly silly, though not always in the way people have complained. The outrage is over the inclusion of Robbie Williams, Boy George, John Peel and Johnny Rotten - and the latter two pleased me very much. On the other hand, Julie Andrews and Bono (they seem to be interpreting Britishness rather loosely)? Only one artist (Constable), not many women.
Worse, the British public were asked to name the most important events of the century. I'd have thought that World War II, involving Nazism, several years of worldwide war, the Holocaust and the atom bomb would have been a runaway winner, but no, in first place was something that even with a British perspective would have not even got on a long shortlist for me. Apparently the most important historical event, as far as Britain is concerned, is the death of Princess Diana. What can you say? Perhaps it's because I'm not a historian. Do we have any historians here who can explain to me why this is the key event of the last 100 years? Tom, didn't you do history at Oxford? Have they thrown away all their old textbooks since Di died?
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 24 August 2002 21:54 (twenty-three years ago)