Dan Snow
Encyclopedia
Daniel Robert Snow is an English television presenter. He has presented and appeared in many popular history-related programmes for the BBC
and is the "History Hunter" for The One Show
.
, BBC
television journalist, and Ann MacMillan, Managing Editor of CBC
London Bureau. Dan therefore has joint British/Canadian citizenship. Through his mother, he is the nephew of Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, and a great-great-grandson of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George
. One of his father's cousins is the Channel 4 news reporter Jon Snow
.
in Barnes in south London, where he was Captain of the School, followed by Balliol College
at the University of Oxford
. He rowed three times in the University Boat Race, winning in 2000 and losing a controversial race, when President, in 2001. He received a double first-class honours degree in Modern History
.
to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the battle and followed this up with an eight-part series on BBC2 in 2004 called Battlefield Britain
. This won a BAFTA award (for special effects). The same year Snow won a Sony award as one of the presenters on LBC Boat Race coverage.
He has made numerous history programmes for the BBC. He also presents on many of the state occasions such as the 200th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar
, Beating Retreat
2006, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the 90th anniversary of the Armistice in November 2008, Trooping the Colour and the City Salute. Dan Snow also presented BBC 2's 20th Century Battlefields
. This covers battles all around the world and is presented in similar fashion to the first Battlefield Britain which was broadcast in various markets in 2006 and is available on DVD
. The second series can also be viewed on the Military Channel
. In June 2008, Dan Snow was in a three-part series which was called 'Britain's Lost World' on BBC 1. Along with Kate Humble
and Steve Backshall
, he stayed on the island of St Kilda, Scotland
, to find out more about its history and wildlife. In the TV programme My Family at War he was critical of Thomas D'Oyly Snow
, his great-grandfather, who commanded VII Corps on the first day on the Somme
.
On Sunday 18 April 2010 Snow and a few friends took three rigid-hulled inflatable boat
s from Dover
to Calais
to help 25 people return to the UK
after they were stranded in France
by the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
in Iceland. When they arrived at Calais they were told by the French authorities that they could not return to collect any more people.
In November 2011 Snow teamed up with the Irish army to fire a M1919 Browning machine gun
which he had excavated from a Spitfire which crashed in Donegal
while being flown by Bud Wolfe
. Despite being in a peat bog for 70 years the machine gun fired without a hitch.
.
As friends of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Snow and his wife attended their wedding on the 29 April 2011, and subsequent evening reception.
During the 2011 London Riots, Snow was widely praised for managing to apprehend a man who was running down the street with arms full of stolen goods, and detaining him until the police arrived.
Radio
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and is the "History Hunter" for The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
.
Early life and background
Dan Snow is the youngest son of Peter SnowPeter Snow
Peter Snow, CBE is a British television and radio presenter. He is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News, nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow, and the brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television journalist, and Ann MacMillan, Managing Editor of CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
London Bureau. Dan therefore has joint British/Canadian citizenship. Through his mother, he is the nephew of Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, and a great-great-grandson of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
. One of his father's cousins is the Channel 4 news reporter Jon Snow
Jon Snow
Jon Snow is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.-Early life:...
.
Education
Snow was educated at Barnes Primary School and St Paul's School, an independent schoolIndependent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Barnes in south London, where he was Captain of the School, followed by Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He rowed three times in the University Boat Race, winning in 2000 and losing a controversial race, when President, in 2001. He received a double first-class honours degree in Modern History
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
.
Life and career
In 2003, Snow and his father made a programme on El AlameinEl Alamein
El Alamein is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. As of 2007, it has a local population of 7,397 inhabitants.- Climate :...
to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the battle and followed this up with an eight-part series on BBC2 in 2004 called Battlefield Britain
Battlefield Britain
Battlefield Britain is a 2004 BBC television documentary series about famous battles in the history of Great Britain. From Boudicca's destructive rebellion against the Romans to the incredible feats of The Few who saw off the Luftwaffe, these battles all had wide-reaching consequences and...
. This won a BAFTA award (for special effects). The same year Snow won a Sony award as one of the presenters on LBC Boat Race coverage.
He has made numerous history programmes for the BBC. He also presents on many of the state occasions such as the 200th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, Beating Retreat
Beating Retreat
Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating back to 16th century England and was first used in order to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.-History:...
2006, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the 90th anniversary of the Armistice in November 2008, Trooping the Colour and the City Salute. Dan Snow also presented BBC 2's 20th Century Battlefields
20th Century Battlefields
20th Century Battlefields is a BBC documentary television series hosted by television and radio personality Peter Snow, and his son Dan Snow....
. This covers battles all around the world and is presented in similar fashion to the first Battlefield Britain which was broadcast in various markets in 2006 and is available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The second series can also be viewed on the Military Channel
Military Channel
The Military Channel is a cable and satellite television network which broadcasts television programming related to the military, warfare and military history. It is part of the group of networks owned by Discovery Communications within the United States and Canada...
. In June 2008, Dan Snow was in a three-part series which was called 'Britain's Lost World' on BBC 1. Along with Kate Humble
Kate Humble
Katherine 'Kate' Humble is an English television presenter, mainly for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes...
and Steve Backshall
Steve Backshall
Steve Backshall is a British naturalist, writer and television presenter, best known for BBC TV's "Deadly 60'. This series sees Backshall travelling the world in search of predators that are, "Not just deadly to me, but deadly in their own world"...
, he stayed on the island of St Kilda, Scotland
St Kilda, Scotland
St Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
, to find out more about its history and wildlife. In the TV programme My Family at War he was critical of Thomas D'Oyly Snow
Thomas D'Oyly Snow
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas D’Oyly Snow KCB, KCMG was a British General in the First World War who commanded during some of the major battles of the Western Front. He had two nicknames, ‘Slush’ and ‘Snowball’, both plays on 'Snow'.-Education and early military career:Snow was born on 5 May 1858...
, his great-grandfather, who commanded VII Corps on the first day on the Somme
First day on the Somme
The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, which was the first phase of the British and French offensive that became known as the Battle of the Somme...
.
On Sunday 18 April 2010 Snow and a few friends took three rigid-hulled inflatable boat
Rigid-hulled inflatable boat
A rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...
s from Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
to Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
to help 25 people return to the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
after they were stranded in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
by the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
In response to concerns that volcanic ash ejected during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many European countries was closed to instrument flight rules traffic, resulting in the largest air-traffic shut-down since World War II...
in Iceland. When they arrived at Calais they were told by the French authorities that they could not return to collect any more people.
In November 2011 Snow teamed up with the Irish army to fire a M1919 Browning machine gun
M1919 Browning machine gun
The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...
which he had excavated from a Spitfire which crashed in Donegal
Donegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
while being flown by Bud Wolfe
Bud Wolfe
Roland 'Bud' Wolfe was an American pilot who parachuted from an RAF Spitfire plane into a peat bog on the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland, on November 30, 1941. The incident initiated a diplomatic row between Britain and Ireland....
. Despite being in a peat bog for 70 years the machine gun fired without a hitch.
Personal life
On 27 November 2010, Snow married Lady Edwina Grosvenor, the second daughter of the 6th Duke of WestminsterGerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
Major-General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, , is the son of Robert George Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, and his wife Hon. Viola Maud Lyttelton. He is the owner of property company Grosvenor Group...
.
As friends of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Snow and his wife attended their wedding on the 29 April 2011, and subsequent evening reception.
During the 2011 London Riots, Snow was widely praised for managing to apprehend a man who was running down the street with arms full of stolen goods, and detaining him until the police arrived.
Broadcast works
Television- 2003: El Alamein, with Peter Snow, for the 60th anniversary of the battle
- 2004: Battlefield BritainBattlefield BritainBattlefield Britain is a 2004 BBC television documentary series about famous battles in the history of Great Britain. From Boudicca's destructive rebellion against the Romans to the incredible feats of The Few who saw off the Luftwaffe, these battles all had wide-reaching consequences and...
, with Peter Snow, on eight of the most famous battles in British history - 2006: Trafalgar 200 BBC2, for the anniversary of the Battle of TrafalgarBattle of TrafalgarThe Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
- 2006: Shipwreck: Ark Royal, on the discovery of HMS Ark RoyalHMS Ark Royal (91)HMS Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design...
sunk in 1941 - 2006-08 20th Century Battlefields20th Century Battlefields20th Century Battlefields is a BBC documentary television series hosted by television and radio personality Peter Snow, and his son Dan Snow....
, BBC2, on various battles through the 20th century - 2007: In Living Memory, BBC1, a documentary about the new British Armed Forces Memorial
- 2007 China's Terracotta Army, BBC2, on the Terracotta Army
- 2008: What Britain Earns, BBC2, a national survey of people's incomes
- 2008: Britain's Lost World, BBC1, on the history and wildlife of St KildaSt Kilda, ScotlandSt Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
- 2008: HadrianHadrian (BBC documentary)Hadrian is a Bafta Cymru-winning 2008 BBC Television documentary film in which Dan Snow follows the travels of the Roman Emperor Hadrian.-Production:...
, BBC2, on the life and legacy of Roman Emperor Hadrian - 2008: 50 Things You Need To Know About British History, The History Channel
- 2008: My Family at War, BBC1
- 2009: Grouchy Young Men, Comedy Central
- 2009: How the Celts Saved Britain, BBC4
- 2009: MontezumaMontezuma (BBC documentary)Montezuma is a 2009 BBC Television documentary film in which Dan Snow examines the reign of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II.-Production:The film was produced by BBC Wales to tie in with the exhibition Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler at the British Museum....
, BBC2 - 2010: Battle for North America: The Battle of Quebec, BBC2
- 2010: The Empire of the Seas, BBC2
- 2010: Little Ships, BBC2. Achieved the highest Appreciation IndexAppreciation IndexThe Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
for any programme on any channel in the month of June 2010. - 2010: Norman Walks, BBC4; BBC2
- 2011: Filthy Cities, BBC2
- 2011: National Treasures Live, BBC1
Radio
- Art in the Trenches, Radio 4
- At War with Wellington, Radio 4
- Prince of Wales, Radio 4, a look at the history of the office of Prince of WalesPrince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
and the current occupant
Books
- 2004: Battlefield Britain. London: BBC Books ISBN 0563487895, co-author with Peter Snow
- 2007: The World's Greatest Twentieth-century Battlefields. London: BBC Books ISBN 056352295X, co-author with Peter Snow
- 2009: Death or Victory: the Battle of Quebec and the birth of Empire. London: Harper Press ISBN 0007286201
Awards
- BAFTA (Visual Effects) for 'Battlefield Britain'
- Sony Award (Best Live Coverage) for Boat Race Day
- BAFTA Cymru (Best Presenter) for 'Hadrian'
- Maritime Media Award for best television, film or radio for 'Empire of the Seas'
- 2011 History Makers Award (Most Innovative Production) for 'Battle for North America' a 1 hour special on Snow's book 'Death or Victory.' Produced by Snow's production company Ballista