This is a timeline of the history of the BBC and its predecessor, the British Broadcasting Company.
1920s
1922 18 October – The British Broadcasting Company is formed. 14 November – Following the closure of numerous amateur stations, the first BBC broadcasts from London (station 2LO). 15 November – First broadcasts from Birmingham (station 5IT) and Manchester (station 2ZY). In Birmingham, broadcasts were initially from temporary premises at Witton, with the transmitter located at Birmingham City Council's Summer Lane electricity generating station. 14 December – 33-year-old John Charles Walsham Reith becomes General Manager of the BBC. 24 December – First broadcast from Newcastle upon Tyne (station 5NO).
1923 8 January – First outside broadcast, the British National Opera Company's production of The Magic Flute from Covent Garden. 18 January – The UK Postmaster General grants the BBC a licence to broadcast. 13 February – First broadcast from Cardiff (station 5WA). 6 March – First broadcast from Glasgow (station 5SC). 6 June – Edgar Wallace makes a report on The Derby, thus becoming the first British radio sports reporter. 28 September – First publication of the Radio Times listings magazine. 10 October – First broadcast from Aberdeen (station 2BD). 17 October – First broadcast from Bournemouth (station 6BM). 16 November – First broadcast from Sheffield (relay station 6FL). 2 December – The first BBC radio broadcast in Scottish Gaelic (relay station 2EH). 11 June – First broadcast from Liverpool (relay station 6LV). 8 July – First broadcast from Leeds and Bradford (relay station 2LS). 21 July – An experimental long-wave station (5XX) is established at the Chelmsford works of the Marconi Company. 15 August – First broadcast from Kingston upon Hull (relay station 6KH). 16 September – First broadcast from Nottingham (relay station 5NG). 21 October – First broadcast from Stoke-on-Trent (relay station 6ST). 12 November – First broadcast from Dundee (relay station 2DE). 12 December – First broadcast from Swansea (relay station 5SX).
1924 23 April – First broadcast by King George V, opening the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium. 27 July – Long-wave station 5XX moves from Chelmsford; Gaelic language is broadcast throughout Scotland. 15 September – First broadcast from Belfast (station 2BE).
1925 February – Heard on BBC radio since 1924, the six electronically generated 'pips' to indicate the Greenwich Time Signal (GTS) were invented by the Astronomer Royal Sir Frank Watson Dyson, and the Director General of the BBC, John Reith. 28 March – First broadcast from Plymouth (relay station 5PY). 1 May – First broadcast from Edinburgh (relay stad to Daventry transmitting station and becomes the first British radio station to achieve near national coverage: the first step in the establishment of the BBC National Programme.
1926 20 January – A custom-built, two-storey studio building in Broad Street, Birmingham, is opened. The main studio, at , was then the largest in the country. 8 February – Reginald Berkeley withdraws permission for the performance of his play Mr. Abdulla, in a row over the BBC's censorship of it. 9 February – BBC Radio stations fall silent for 15 minutes, in order that engineers can measure which overseas stations are causing interference to their signals. 4 May – The General strike begins. The BBC broadcasts five news bulletins a day as no newspapers or Radio Times are published.
1927 1 January – The British Broadcasting Company becomes the British Broadcasting Corporation, when it is granted a Royal Charter. Sir John Reith becomes the first Director-General. 15 January – First live sports broadcast on the BBC. The rugby union international England v Wales is commented on by Teddy Wakelam. 22 January – First live football match broadcast, featuring Arsenal's home league fixture against Sheffield United from Highbury.GGM 40: Highbury stages first live broadcast | News Archive | News . Arsenal.com (2 August 2007). Retrieved on 10 May 2012. January – First BBC reference library established by Florence Milnes.
March – The BBC coat of arms is adopted. 17 March - Broadcast of the premiere of Gustav Holst's choral ballet The Morning of the Year, with words by Steuart Wilson. This was the first composition commissioned by the BBC. Holst conducted. 7 July – Christopher Stone presents a record programme, becoming the first British disc-jockey. 21 August – The first high-powered regional station (5GB), forerunner of the Midland Regional Programme, opens at Daventry, replacing 51T.
1928 2 January – The first edition of The Daily Service is broadcast. It was originally called A Short Religious Service but was renamed The Daily Service in July. 12 March – The first broadcast of the BBC Dance Orchestra, led by Jack Payne, took place, performing until disbanding in 1939.
1929 20 August – First transmissions of John Logie Baird's experimental 30-line television system. 6 November – The first edition of The Week in Westminster was broadcast on the Home Service, just after the 1929 General Election.
1930s 1930 9 March – The majority of the BBC's existing radio stations are regrouped to form the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme. April – The Research Department is formed after a renaming of the Development section of the BBC. 14 July – Transmission of the first experimental television play, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth. 30 September – BBC Yearbook 1931 states that "The number of radio licences in force on September 30th, 1930, was 3,195,553, representing about 12,000,000 listeners, or roughly every second home in the country".BBC Yearbook 1931, p. 26
1931 2 June – First live outside broadcast with transmission of the Epsom Derby.
1932 15 March – The first radio broadcast is made from Broadcasting House. 15 May – Broadcasting House, the BBC's headquarters and home to its main radio studios, is officially opened. 22 August – The first, experimental television broadcast is made from Broadcasting House. 19 December – The Empire Service (precursor of the World Service) launches, broadcasting on shortwave from Daventry's Borough Hill. 25 December – King George V becomes the first monarch to deliver a Christmas Day message by radio, on the Empire Service.
1933 24 May – The BBC broadcasts a speech by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald on Empire day.Radio Times 19 May 1931 28 May – South Wales Stations 5WA & 5SX get replaced by BBC Regional Programme West.
1934 Unknown – The Type A Microphone was first used. 7 October – The new high-power long-wave transmitter at Droitwich takes over from Daventry 5XX as the main station radiating the BBC National Programme. The BBC broadcasts a Tuning Signal for the first time. It was a simple line and circle broadcast using Baird's 30-line system, and was used to synchronise the mechanical scanning system.
1935 The BBC establishes its first Gaelic department.
1936 2 November – The BBC opens the world's first regular high-definition television service, from Alexandra Palace.
1937 24 April – The very first children's television show For the Children. 12 May – First use of TV outside broadcast van, to cover the procession that followed the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. 21 June – The BBC broadcasts television coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships for the first time. 16 September – The BBC makes the world's first live television broadcast of a football match, a specially arranged local mirror match derby fixture between Arsenal and Arsenal reserves.
1938 3 January – The BBC begins broadcasting its first foreign-language radio service, in Arabic. 11 February 1938 – The BBC broadcasts its first Science Fiction (SciFi) television programme, a thirty-five-minute adapted extract of the play R.U.R., written by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek, was broadcast live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios. See British television science fiction. 14 March – Inauguration of the Latin American service, broadcasting on shortwave in English, Spanish and Portuguese. 30 April – The BBC broadcasts television coverage of the FA Cup for the first time. 27 September – Start of the European Service on radio, broadcasting in French, German and Italian. Portuguese and Spanish are added before the start of the Second World War.
1939 Creation of BBC Monitoring 1 September – The BBC Television Service is suspended, around 20 minutes after the conclusion of a Mickey Mouse cartoon (Mickey's Gala Premier), owing to the imminent outbreak of World War II and amid fears that the VHF transmissions would act as perfect guidance beams for enemy bombers attempting to locate central London. Additionally, the service's technicians and engineers will be needed for such war efforts as the development of radar. On radio, the National and Regional Programmes are combined to form a single Home Service. 17 October – The First World Radio Broadcast took place at the RAF Hendon base in North London, in front of a specially invited audience of RAF personnel. The whole show was relayed worldwide across the airwaves, the first time a live show had ever been broadcast around the globe. The bill starred Adelaide Hall, Mantovani and His Orchestra, The Western Brothers, and Harry Roy and his Band.
1940s
1940 7 January – Start of the BBC Forces Programme on radio, precursor of the post-war Light Programme. 11 May – The BBC starts a news service in Hindi.
1941 The BBC European Service moves to Bush House in Central London.
1942 29 January – The first edition of Desert Island Discs is broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme.
1943 23 November – British Forces Broadcasting Service begins operation.
1944 27 February – BBC General Forces Programme replaces the BBC Forces Programme (also broadcast on shortwave).
1945 29 July – Regional radio programming resumes on the Home Service (on the same medium-wave frequencies as used pre-war by the Regional Programme), while on the same day a new Light Programme begins, using the long-wave frequency of the pre-war National Programme. 9 October – The first edition of Today in Parliament is broadcast.
1946 7 June – BBC Television broadcasts (405 lines) resume after the war including the coverages of cricket and Wimbledon Tennis. One of the first programmes shown is the same exact Mickey Mouse cartoon from its television service suspension in 1939. 29 September – The Third Programme starts broadcasting on radio. 7 October – Woman's Hour launches, covering issues about women. October – For The Children is launched, the first ever Children block for the BBC.
1947 7 October – Adelaide Hall singing at a RadiOlympia variety show is the oldest surviving telerecorded programme in Britain. 9 November – First use of telerecording of an outside broadcast: the Service of Remembrance from the Cenotaph is televised live, and a telerecording shown that evening. 20 November – The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh is televised by the BBC. It is watched by an estimated 400,000 viewers.
1948 January – The first ever news program, Newsreel is launched. 29 July – The London Olympic Games is televised. 26 December – The first Reith Lecture is broadcast on radio.
1949 July – The revived BBC weather forecast was relaunched. The format would not change until 1954. "Briefe ohne Unterschrift" begins broadcast (1949–1974) Austin Harrison reads and comments letters by East Germans. 17 December – For the first time television extends beyond London when the Sutton Coldfield transmitter starts broadcasting, providing television reception across the Midlands.
1950s
1950 29 May – The Archers is launched, initially as a six-episode trial, and only broadcast in the Midlands. 21 May – Lime Grove television studios open.