As the BBC marks its 100th birthday, TVBEurope takes a look at some of its milestone achievements over the past century.
1920s
1922 BBC starts
1927 First live football commentary, a Division One clash between Arsenal and Sheffield United
1930s
1932 Broadcasting House opens
1936 The BBC is the first broadcaster in the world to provide a regular television service
1937 First TV outside broadcast
1940s
1942 Desert Island Discs launches
1946 Woman’s Hour debuts
1948 First TV news broadcast
1948 First Olympic Games shown on TV
1949 First TV weather bulletin
1950s
1950 The world’s longest-running soap The Archers launches
1953 Coronation of Elizabeth II
1958 Blue Peter, the longest-running children’s show in the world, debuts
1960s
1960 The Hollywood of the television industry, aka Television Centre, opens its doors
1963 Doctor Who premieres
1967 First live international TV link up, The Beatles sing All You Need Is Love
1967 First BBC colour broadcast, coverage of Wimbledon on BBC Two
1969 Moon landing
1970s
1974 Ceefax is developed by BBC engineers who exploit the unused capacity of the 625-line television signal to send text information
1977 28 million watch Morecambe & Wise’s Christmas show
1977 Top Gear first broadcast
1980s
1983 BBC launches its first breakfast show, Breakfast Time
1985 EastEnders premieres
1990s
1997 BBC’s rolling news channel News 24 broadcasts for the first time
2000s
2004 Strictly Come Dancing sashays onto screens
2006 BBC HD begins broadcasting as a trial station to test the possibility and technical practicality of broadcasting programmes in HD
2007 BBC launches iPlayer
2010s
2011 BBC News School Report (now Young Reporter) makes history as the first-ever live television programme from MediaCityUK
2012 BBC broadcasts London Olympics
2018 BBC successfully broadcasts live sport in 4K HDR quality on iPlayer
2022 Glastonbury marks the first time the BBC broadcasts any music event in Ultra High Definition
