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David Attenborough 100th Birthday

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Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday on May 8, 2026, marked by a BBC live special from Royal Albert Hall, tributes, and a parasitic wasp species named in his honor by the Natural History Museum, recognizing his 70-year career as a naturalist, broadcaster, and conservationist.

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  1. London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

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2026-08-18 to 2026-11-15 · UTC publication dates

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Coverage begins 8 May, 11:38 UTC

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What happened

The facts

  1. Attenborough's career spans iconic nature documentaries and scientific contributions

    David Attenborough has written and narrated numerous acclaimed nature documentaries over his career, including the groundbreaking Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Life, Frozen Planet, and Netflix's Our Planet. He has also narrated Wildlife on One, Blue Planet II, and the 2025 film Ocean with David Attenborough. He has won multiple awards including four Emmy Awards and British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for programs in black and white, color, HD, and 3D formats. In addition to broadcasting, Attenborough has written books including his 2002 memoir Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster.

    1 corroborating report

  2. Sir David Attenborough reaches 100th birthday milestone

    Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday on May 8, 2026. Born May 8, 1926, near London, Attenborough has had a career spanning over 70 years as a broadcaster, natural historian, and conservationist. He joined the BBC as a TV producer in 1952 and rose to become director of television programming from 1968 to 1972 before resigning to focus on writing and producing television programs full-time.

    1 corroborating report

  3. Natural History Museum names new parasitic wasp species after Attenborough

    London's Natural History Museum named a new parasitic wasp species Attenboroughnculus tau after David Attenborough to honor his work and inspire others to pursue natural history. Though the specimen was initially collected in Chile in 1984, the museum only recently identified the insect. This marks at least the 51st species named after Attenborough, joining previously named creatures including a long-beaked echidna, ghost shrimp, plesiosaur, and carnivorous pitcher plant.

    1 corroborating report

  4. BBC broadcasts 90-minute live special celebrating Attenborough's centenary

    The BBC marked Attenborough's 100th birthday with a 90-minute live television special titled 'David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth' broadcast from Royal Albert Hall in London. Hosted by Kirsty Young, the program featured archive footage, live orchestral music from his documentaries, and appearances from colleagues including Michael Palin, Steve Backshall, Chris Packham, and Liz Bonnin. Musical performances included the BBC Concert Orchestra, Bastille frontman Dan Smith, and Icelandic band Sigur Rós. The special aired on BBC One at 8:30 p.m. BST on May 8, 2026.

    1 corroborating report

  5. Attenborough receives global birthday tributes and messages

    David Attenborough received widespread birthday greetings from people around the world, including messages from preschool groups, care home residents, and countless individuals and families of all ages. In response, he released an audio message via the BBC thanking people for their well-wishes, expressing surprise at the scale of public celebrations. Various events were organized in the UK and abroad to mark the occasion, including a 242-foot sand portrait created by arts collective Sand In Your Eye on Morecambe Beach in England, free entry to the Australian Museum's 'Bloodsuckers: Nature's Vampires' exhibit, and a Google Easter egg generating images of animals and plants with messages of thanks.

    1 corroborating report

  6. Attenborough increasingly speaks out on climate change and biodiversity loss

    In recent years, David Attenborough has taken a stronger public stance on environmental issues, including climate change and biodiversity loss. At the COP26 climate summit in 2021, he stated: 'Our burning of fossil fuels, our destruction of nature, our approach to industry, construction and learning, are releasing carbon into the atmosphere at an unprecedented pace and scale.' He has also advocated for renewable energy and protection of the planet's biodiversity, while remaining optimistic about humanity's capacity to address these challenges.

    1 corroborating report

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