As if we needed any additional evidence that American children lag far far behind their counterparts in the rest of the world (industrial or otherwise).

We already no students in the US have a subpar understanding of math and science, now it seems that educational deficiency extends to history and literature as well (big surprise) and thus the failure of the American educational system is now complete.

The American Enterprise Institute conducted a survey of some 1200 students and the results were quite telling (and disappointing). According to the survey, less than half of the students surveyed knew when the Civil War took place. Other subjects students were unfamiliar with include the Communist Scares of the 1950s and prominent works of literature.