29 Facts About Peter Snow

Peter John Snow was born on 20 April 1938 and is a British radio and television presenter and historian.

Peter Snow presented Newsnight from its launch in 1980 until 1997.

Peter Snow has presented a number of documentaries, including some with his son, Dan Snow.

Peter Snow is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow; first cousin of Jon Snow, the presenter of Channel 4 News from 1989 to 2021; nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow; and brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret MacMillan.

Peter Snow is the father of fellow TV presenter Dan Snow.

Peter Snow spent part of his early childhood in Benghazi, Libya, where his father was stationed.

Peter Snow's father became deputy Fortress commander at Gibraltar in 1956.

Peter Snow was a foreign correspondent, Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent, and occasional newscaster for Britain's Independent Television News.

Peter Snow appeared as an election analyst and co-presenter of ITN's General Election programmes throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.

Peter Snow gained a much higher profile after he was recruited in 1979 to be the main presenter of the new late evening BBC 2 in-depth news programme Newsnight, which began almost a year later than planned, in January 1980.

Peter Snow left Newsnight in 1997 and presented Tomorrow's World and the BBC Radio 4 quizzes Masterteam and Brain of Britain, amongst other projects.

At the Royal Television Society in 1998, Peter Snow won the Judges' Award for services to broadcasting.

Peter Snow has been involved as an election analyst and co-presenter in the live General Election results programmes for many years, first at ITN for five General Elections and later at the BBC for a further six.

Peter Snow presented in-depth statistical analyses of the election results at both ITN and the BBC, and at the BBC took over responsibility for this in 1983, following the death of Robert McKenzie, and became largely associated with McKenzie's BBC "Swingometer" when it was reinstated in 1992.

Peter Snow survived a plane crash at Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, Washington on 1 October 1999 when the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, registration number N9766Z, in which he was a passenger hit trees during a film project for the BBC.

Peter and Dan Snow authored BBC books with the same titles to coincide with the TV shows.

Peter Snow presented "Random Edition" over a number of years, a Radio Four programme that examined in detail the stories in a newspaper chosen at random from one day in history.

Peter Snow participated in these programmes, acting as a correspondent alongside former ITN colleague John Suchet, the presenter of the specials.

Peter Snow presented a special on BBC Radio 4 focusing on "Britain's First Day of War in 1939".

In June 2013, Peter Snow presented "D-Day As it Happens" for Channel 4.

In June 2018 Peter Snow presented a five-part series for Channel Four 'Great Train Restorations' which created a so-called Time Train from four refurbished railway carriages.

Peter Snow published "To War with Wellington", the story of the Iron Duke's campaigns from Portugal to Waterloo.

Peter Snow has been married twice, and has six children from three relationships.

Peter Snow's eldest son, French citizen Matthieu, was born before his first marriage, although Snow was not aware of his existence until he was an adult.

Peter Snow married Alison Carter in 1964 and the couple had a son and a daughter.

In 1976 Peter Snow married Ann MacMillan, with whom he has a son, Dan, and two daughters, Rebecca and Kate.

Peter Snow was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year Honours for his services to Broadcasting.

Peter Snow's hobbies include model railways, and he has an OO gauge layout installed in his loft.

Peter Snow is the cousin of fellow journalist and broadcaster Jon Snow.