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You know his voice and you definitely know his nature documentaries. But did you know it’s his birthday?
Sir David Attenborough, the beloved wildlife expert and broadcaster turns 100 on May 8. He’s spent decades bringing the wonders of wildlife into our living rooms, classrooms and of course, our hearts.
His storied career, spanning hits like Planet Earth, The Blue Planet and Frozen Planet continues even last year, when released his 2025 feature documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough.
But aside from his ever-so-iconic narration and love for creatures of all kinds, there’s plenty to learn about his life on Earth. Here are 10 facts you might not know — one per decade.
The animal he doesn’t love
We all know he loves animals.
But there is one that he’s not a fan of.
Rats! And he’s not shy about it. He credits his feelings to his stay in the Solomon Islands, in a thatched hut during a storm. While he was lying in the dark, he felt something moving in the sheets, later realizing it was a rat near his feet.
Over 40 species are named after him
Among them: Euptchia attenboroughi, a butterfly; Lepanthes attenboroughii, a miniature orchid; and in celebration of his 100th birthday, Attenboroughnculus tau, a new species of wasp!
What do all of these things have in common? They’re named after Attenborough.
“He has used his work to reveal the intimate, unseen or overlooked within nature,” wrote the researchers who described Attenboroughnculus tau in a paper published Thursday.
Unsurprisingly, his name is known all over the science world. Over 40 species are named after him, ranging from frogs, plants, to insects and even a constellation.
He influenced the colour of tennis balls
In the 50s he was actually rejected from a job at BBC Radio, but he’d later get hired to work on a medium called television. In the 1960s, Attenborough was working as a controller at BBC Two overseeing the first ever colour broadcasts in Europe in 1965.
In 1967, he sent colour cameras to Wimbledon. At the time, tennis balls were white, so for viewers, they were hard to see against the lines on the court.
According to the BBC, Attenborough suggested a colour change, to something bright and more visible. The International Tennis Federation would later run tests to figure out which colour would be most visible, and they landed on that bright yellow.
He’s a double knight
Yup. He’s been knighted twice — first in 1985 by Queen Elizabeth, and for a second time in 2022 by then-Prince Charles — becoming a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.
The trophy shelf is full
The Guinness Book of World Records claims Attenborough is the only person to have won BAFTA awards for these four different formats: colour, black and white, HD and 3D programs. He’s also the oldest person to win a Daytime Emmy at 99 for The Secret Lives of Orangutans — an honour previously held by Dick Van Dyke who won at 98 the year before.
He took a deep dive
Reports from the BBC and the Guardian say in 2015, Attenborough dove in a record-breaking 100 feet submersible to film parts of the Great Barrier reef. At 89 years old, he was the oldest person to ever reach the depth.
Nature in his pocket — literally
When he was 11, he would sell newts he took from a nearby pond to the University College Leicester zoology department for three pence each (the equivalent of about $2 Cdn today), according to the University.
He replies, but not to DMs
Despite getting tons of fan mail, in a 2021 BBC Radio 1 Interview, he said he gets about 70 letters a day, and if you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope, he might even reply. But don’t count on a direct message, the 100-year-old is not active on social media.
He helped spark a shift away from single-use plastics
After Blue Planet II aired in 2017, it sparked global reaction. The series showed how plastic was getting into oceans and causing harms and deaths to birds and sea mammals.
“I think we are changing our habits, and the world is waking up to what we’ve done to the planet,” he said in 2019. At the time, he was being announced as a winner of the Chatham House prize, awarded to people or organizations who significantly contribute to the improvement of international relations.
And if he could be an animal for a day, he’d be…
A sloth! He often jokes that their lifestyle appeals to him because they spend so much time hanging from trees and sleeping, with not much to do. Here he is getting up close and personal with one, thank me later.
WATCH | Sir David Attenborough answers what animal he’d be for a day:
