From the Press Association’s Ananova news website:
Bunch of idiots. While I’m not surprised that some people are suckling at television’s fetid teat for their historical knowledge, how can anyone with remotely evolved frontal lobes regard the death of a minor royal in a car accident as a more momentous event than the end of a war in which scores of millions died and the political, economic and social balance of the world was permanently redrawn?
Do I get a prize for the length of that last sentence?
Cos they remember it, and they cried when it happened. That’s what “momentous” means to an idiot - “did I cry about it?”. World outside the self? Eh? Whassat?
I think the problem is in how the surveys are done. If the people are asked to think of something significant, they will choose something recent (Diana) or something they are passionate about (1966 World Cup). I think (at least I hope!) that if people were asked to choose between the end of WWII and the 1966 World Cup, they would pick WWII as more significant.
I hope you’re right. It’s in a similar vein to that ‘100 Greatest Britons’ poll, but I’m at a loss as to how useful these polls are when they’re so obviously skewed towards the most recent or most media-friendly events.
“…Survey of 1,000 Britons…” – and that’s all she wrote.
No information about for whom the poll was conducted, how the question(s) were phrased, where, when, age groups, blah, blah, blah. Just nonsense, IMHO:
If a pro-Monarchy group ask a 1,000 English people - standing outside Windsor Castle who are under 25, during the Jubilee celebrations wearing dopey Union Jack hats – whether:
Was Diana’s death the most significant event in British history, if not what else was ?
…
Okay, maybe strike the “pro-Monarchy” part…;
Maybe they just asked Mohammed al-Fayed 1,000 times.
Ask again in 200 years.
Yes. A slightly used Mercedes S Class, French plates.
[sub]And a chill filled the room…[/sub]
Honestly, I can see the 1966 World Cup rivaling with WWII for importance. I really can. Chances are if you ask the Dutch public this question, 56.34% is going to say “Van Basten’s winning goal against Germany in the 1988 semi-finals of the European Championships”. They’d almost be right, too.
The answer is likely going to be something the person feels passionate about. For most people alive today, WWII is history book stuff, and it didn’t impact them directly (well, they think it didn’t, at least). Princess Di… that just happened 5 years ago. And everybody cried, so it MUST have been important, right?
And the number one greatest British conspiracy…
I used to work for a survey company. I no longer trust the results of any survey I see, no matter who did it. It’s amazing how easy it is to manipulate your questions to get the answers you want. Survey results are nearly always crap.
I find it pretty hard to have an accurate poll where the questions range from the significance of dropping the A-bomb on Hiroshima versus the 9/11 attacks. How accurate could this poll possibly be?
First if all you have inaccuracies simply regarding ages of people who may still be alive that remember both events. Then you must factor in the fact that people seem to usually remember that which has happenned most recently. I cannot in good conscience say what has been the most significant event in the last 100 years.
I don’t really have anything significant to add to this thread, I just love reading about things that make people other than Americans sound stupid and short-sighted.
It’s a little evidence that those are symptoms of the human condition, and that we’re not unique. 
January 4, 1977. 10:08 AM, CST. On a dreary, blizzardy morning in a Kansas City hospital, a child was born unto this world far surpassing all who had come before him. Outranking all who would come after him.
And they would call him Ender.
Amen.
Sheesh, I would think that the abdication of Edward VIII would at the very LEAST be more important than Diana’s death!
Sheesh!
Not unique at all - just a little more prolific, and louder. 
Princess Diana died?!?
Who’s Princess Diana?