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Top 10 Sensational Facts about Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English writer, naturalist, and broadcaster. He is well known for his educational programs such as the nine-part Life series. Born on May 8, 1926, in London, Attenborough completed his Master of Arts at Clare College in Cambridge in 1947. He then began his career in 1949 at an educational publishing house.

In 1952, Attenborough became a BBC producer after completing his training with them. In 1954, working with Jack Lester who was a reptile curator, they created the Zoo Quest series which became a popular television show. The show filmed wild animals in zoos and in the wild. BBC created a second television channel in 1965 and Attenborough became its controller.

From 1968 to 1972 Attenborough was BBC’s director of television programming. He, however, resigned to work on a freelance basis writing and producing television series. This resulted in the creation of anthropology and natural history award-winning programs such as The Living Planet in 1984, The Life of Birds in 1998, The Blue Planet in 2001, as well as the 2006 series titled Are We Changing Planet Earth? In 2017, Although Attenborough did not write Blue Planet II he received an Emmy Award for his narration.

Attenborough also received other awards such as the 2014 Peabody Award and the BAFTA Awards. In addition to the TV programs, Attenborough has penned a number of autobiographies including the Adventures of a Young Naturalist: The Zoo Quest Expeditions and the Journeys to the Other Side of the World: Further Adventures of a Young Naturalist which were published in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Below are ten unbelievable facts about Sir David Attenborough.

1. Attenborough and Queen Elizabeth II were born in the same year

David Attenborough at ARKive’s launch in Bristol, England, May 2003. Photo by Wildscreen/

Attenborough and Queen Elizabeth II were both born in 1926. Attenborough and his brothers, one of whom is Sir Richard Attenborough the Jurassic Park actor were raised in Leicester. Their father was the University College principal.

2. Attenborough was enterprising from a young age

David Attenborough at Australia House, London, for a special screening of his Great Barrier Reef series held by Tourism Australia and the Australian High Commission. Photo by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website/

When Attenborough was11 years old he collected frons from a pond near the University College in Leicester and supplied them to the institution’s zoology department.

He earned 3 pence for each amphibian that he delivered to the university. Attenborough later went on to study geology and zoology at Clare College in Cambridge. In 1947, Attenborough graduated with a master’s degree in natural sciences.

3. Attenborough prefers old fashioned mail to technology

Attenborough would much rather send a letter than use technology. In 2020, when Attenborough joined Instagram, he got 1 million followers in four hours and 44 minutes. 

The messages were overwhelming and about five weeks later, Attenborough left Instagram and has not returned since. His fan amassing record was been broken by Rupert Grint, the Harry Potter star who joined Instagram a month later.

Grint had a record-breaking 1 million followers in a shorter time than Attenborough. Grint hit the 1 million mark 43 minutes faster than Attenborough.

4. Attenborough commissioned memorable shows while director of programs at the BBC

David Attenborough (center) works with a film crew on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Photo NASA/

While the director of programs at BBC, Attenborough commissioned a number of leading shows. One of these shows was Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The performers in this comedy sketch created a new era in comedy not only in the UK but across the globe.

5. Attenborough turned down the role of director-general at BBC to work on nature programs

David Attenborough in London in 2018. Photo by Attenborough/

Attenborough did not want to be in meetings and turned down the role of director-general at BBC. This left him free to create the beloved nature documentaries that have been televised across the world. His first show was Life on Earth which premiered in 1979.

The show involved world travel for Attenborough who wanted to film animals in their natural habitats. The 13-episode series was sold to 100 different areas by the BBC. It was a huge success and saw 500 million viewers tune in.

6. Despite being an animal lover Attenborough does not like rats

Animals intrigue Attenborough but the one animal he does not like is rats. Attenborough who can handle snakes, spiders, and scorpions encountered the rats on two different occasions and says he would be the first to run if he saw rats.

One such occasion was filming in the Solomon Islands and waking up in the middle of the night to a room full of rats. The second occasion, Attenborough says, was having a rat jump out of the toilet in India.

7. Attenborough has more than a dozen animal and plant species named after him

Sitana attenboroughii, is a new species of fan-throated lizard named after Sir David Frederick Attenborough. Photo by David Raju/

There are more than a dozen plant and animal species named after Attenborough. These species some of which are extinct while others living bear the Attenborough name.

They include a long-necked marine dinosaur that flippers named Attenborosaurus (Attenborosaurus conybeari), a Peruvian rubber frog that was a little over two centimeters in length named Pristimantis attenboroughi, and a tiny, pale yellow goblin spider named Prethopalpus attenboroughi .

The only other person with a number of species named after her is Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, a Thai princess.

8. Attenborough has been knighted twice by the Queen

Queen Elizabeth II has recognized Attenborough’s service in conservation and television. She knighted him twice, first in 1985 and then again in 2020.

9. Attenborough does not have a driving license

Attenborough did not pass his driving test and neither does he own a car.

10. Attenborough holds a total of 32 honorary degrees

David Attenborough received the Landscape Institute Medal for Lifetime Achievement and became an Honorary Fellow of the Landscape Institute in 2019. Photo by Nick Harrison/

For his contribution to education and science, Attenborough has received an incredible 32 honorary degrees from universities in Britain. Holding more degrees than world leaders and Nobel Prize winners, Attenborough received degrees from universities across the UK such as Durham, Queens, Cambridge, and Oxford University.

Attenborough is considered a trusted broadcaster and naturalist not only in the Uk but across the globe. He speaks against climate change and is a campaigner for biological diversity. Attenborough who was the first to bring the animal kingdom into people’s homes through television is also recognized as the originator of the modern nature documentary.