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Thursday, 22 March, 2001, 18:21 GMT
Moonwalks and Lennon's legacy: 1947-82
Broadcasting has played a key part in people's lives, giving access to historic news events around the globe. BBC News Online recalls some memorable moments.

The era of television began in earnest after the war, when the new medium began to seriously erode radio and cinema audiences.

The televised success of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was probably the turning point.

On 2 June 1953 the ceremony was broadcast live from Westminster Abbey and transmitted across Europe to millions of avid viewers.

By the end of the decade more than 95% of the population had access to televisions.

Moon landing

One of the defining moments of the 20th Century took place on 20 July 1969, when mankind stepped out into the final frontier.

Walking on the moon
Neil Armstrong makes historic steps
The historic journey to the moon of space craft Apollo 11 was a success, although the landing encountered many problems.

The Eagle - the capsule of Apollo 11 - had a heart-stopping last few minutes before US astronaut Neil Armstrong took manual control and gently landed the craft on the moon surface.

Armstrong took the first historic steps and famously said: "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."


Another great technical achievement of the 20th Century - Concorde - also took to the skies in 1969.

The only supersonic commercial plane
The world's only commercial supersonic jet originally took to the air on a test flight from the Aerospatiale airfield in Toulouse on 2 March.

Pre-flight checks were filmed before the first simultaneous commercial journeys which took place on 21 January 1976.

An Air France Concorde flew to Rio de Janeiro while a British Airways flight travelled to Bahrain.

The BBC's Reg Turnill was on board to experience Concorde's charms first hand.

John Lennon

In the 60s radio audiences began to dwindle and the BBC launched its response to the flourishing pirate pop radio stations.

John Lennon
Beatle, John Lennon
Radio 1 began transmissions on 30 September 1967 with a DJ line-up including Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett, John Peel and Terry Wogan.

The old networks, the Home, the Light and the Third gave way to Radios 2, 3 and 4.

Unhappily in 1980 Radio 1 had one of the scoops of the decade. DJ Andy Peebles interviewed John Lennon hours before he was shot in New York.

Royal wedding

The following year the Prince of Wales and lady Diana Spencer were married at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July.

Charles and Diana
The first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne for 300 years
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the route from Buckingham Palace to the cathedral while families throughout the UK held street parties.

The enduring image of the royal wedding was the first Buckingham Palace balcony kiss.

The ceremony was watched by an estimated global audience of around 2.5 billion people.

The Falklands War

The world's attention was also grabbed by Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic on 2 April 1981.

British troops
British troops begin to mass

The UK immediately cut diplomatic ties with Argentina and dispatched a task force.

Six British ships were sunk during the campaign including the Sir Galahad on 8 June.

One survivor remembers the moment the ship was hit.

Commander Mario Menendez signed a surrender document on 14 June. Nearly 10,000 Argentine troops put down their arms and victorious British troops walked through Port Stanley.

Nearly 1,000 lives, 225 British and 750 Argentinean, were lost during the 74-day campaign.

Charting its past, present and digital future
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22 Mar 01 | Entertainment
22 Mar 01 | Entertainment

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