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Sir David Attenboroughis one of the earth ’s most recognizable naturalists and infotainment - makers . In a career cross eight decades , Attenborough has pen , presented and recite some of the most - watch over nature documentaries , such as " Life on Earth " and " The Blue Planet . " To celebrate his 99th natal day , here are 9 unusual fact about the biologist and nature historian .
1. Attenborough is agnostic
speak on BBC Radio 4 in 2012 , Attenboroughsaid he was agnosticand that he does not harness out the hypothesis of a immortal subsist . The broadcaster said , " I do n’t think an reason and an acceptance of the 4 billion - yr - prospicient history of life is in any room discrepant with a impression in a sovereign being . And I am not so confident as to say that I am an atheist . "
2. He doesn’t like rats
Attenborough is unresolved about his deep disfavour of dirty dog , although he says they should be respected . In an installment of the BBC ’s " Life Stories , " he explain how his fear of rats began when he was staying in a thatch hut in a Greenwich Village in the Solomon Islands during a thunderstorm . He felt something brush past his invertebrate foot , and when he flick his flashlight on , a rat run across the bottom — and more rats were all over the floor .
3. Attenborough was rejected from the first job he ever applied for at the BBC
In 1950 , he applied for a chore as a receiving set lecture manufacturer with the BBC but wasrejected for the theatrical role .
4. His parents adopted two Jewish refugee girls during WWII
Irene and Helga Bejach , two Judaic sisters from Berlin , take flight Nazi Germany before long before World War II broke out in 1939 . The missy , who were age 10 and 9 at the metre , lived with the Attenborough family in Leicester for seven years before move to New York to connect a relative . Attenborough hosted areunion for descendentsof the babe in 2019 .
5. Attenborough doesn’t drive
He never pass his driving examination and does n’t likedriving .
6. He tries to reply to the many letters he receives
In an interview onBBC Radio 1 in 2021 , Attenborough tell he was felicitous to reply to fan who wrote him a letter .
bring out he receives as many as 70 letters a sidereal day , he said : " I do my very good [ to respond to them all ] . Sometimes people , mercifully , do n’t really put their address on because people are so unaccustomed to send letters . If you would n’t listen including a ego - addressed stamped gasbag I ’d be delighted to respond . "
7. He served in the Royal Navy
In 1947 , Attenborough was called for internal help in the Royal Navy and was post to an aircraft carrier . After three yr he left and take a job in publication , editing children ’s science text edition .
8. Attenborough’s first program was about a prehistoric fish
The show , called " Coelacanth , " was broadcast in 1952 and was Attenborough ’s first broadcast for the BBC as a manufacturer . It looked at the rediscovery of thecoelacanth , a rude fish once once trust to be an ascendant of the tetrapod — all back - swot up brute that ventured onto country . However , we now knowthis is n’t trueand that lungfish are the near living relative of the tetrapod .
9. Baby mountain gorillas tried to steal his shoes
In 1979 , while film in Rwanda for the " Life on Earth " series , Attenborough meet deal gorillas(Gorilla beringei beringei ) — and two baby Gorilla gorilla essay to take his shoes off . Later , he described the moment as " bliss . "
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Sir David Attenborough was born in 1926, in the London suburb of Isleworth.
Sir David Attenborough receives the Chatham House Centenary Lifetime Award at an event on Oct. 13, 2021 in London, England.
David Attenborough smiling in 1965.
