Peter Snow facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peter Snow CBE
Born	Peter John Snow (1938-04-20) 20 April 1938 (age 87) Dublin, Ireland
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation	Television journalist radio broadcaster historian
Years active	1962-present
Known for	Swingometer
Television	ITN Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent (1966–1979) ITN General Election programmes (1966–1979) Newsnight (1980–1997) BBC General Election programmes (1983–2005) Tomorrow's World (1997–2000)
Spouse(s)	Alison Carter ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1973)​ Ann MacMillan ​ (m. 1976)​
Children	6; including Dan

Peter John Snow (born 20 April 1938) is a well-known British radio and television presenter and historian. He is famous for helping people understand general election results. He did this first for ITV and later for the BBC from 1969 to 2005. He also presented the news show Newsnight from 1980 to 1997. Peter Snow has made many documentaries, some of them with his son, Dan Snow.

Early Life and Family

Peter Snow was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father was John FitzGerald Snow and his mother was Margaret Mary Pringle. Peter Snow comes from a family with many interesting people. His grandfather was a general in the First World War, Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow. He is also the cousin of Jon Snow, who was a famous news presenter for Channel 4 News.

Peter spent some of his early childhood in Benghazi, Libya. His father was working there at the time. Later, his father became a senior officer at Gibraltar in 1956.

Education and Early Career

Peter Snow went to Wellington College, which is a private school in Berkshire. After that, he studied "Greats" at Balliol College, Oxford. "Greats" is a special course that includes subjects like ancient history and philosophy.

From 1956 to 1958, he completed his National Service. This was a time when young men had to serve in the military. He was a junior officer in the Somerset Light Infantry.

A Career in Television

Peter Snow started his career in 1962 at Independent Television News (ITN). He worked as a foreign correspondent, reporting from different countries. He also covered defence and diplomatic news. Sometimes, he even presented the news.

Joining Newsnight

In 1979, Peter Snow joined the BBC. He became the main presenter for a new in-depth news programme called Newsnight. This show started in January 1980 on BBC Two. He worked on Newsnight until 1997.

After Newsnight, he presented other shows like Tomorrow's World, which was about science and technology. He also hosted radio quizzes like Masterteam and Brain of Britain on BBC Radio 4. In 1998, he won an award for his great work in broadcasting.

Election Analysis and the Swingometer

Peter Snow is very well known for his work on General Election results. He helped explain the numbers and what they meant. He did this for ITN for five elections (1966–1979) and then for the BBC for six more (1983–2005).

At the BBC, he became famous for using the "Swingometer". This was a special graphic that showed how votes were changing between political parties. He often used props and visual aids to make complex information easy to understand. For example, during the Falklands War in 1982 and the First Gulf War in 1991, he used a sandpit to show how battles were progressing.

In 1994, he even used his data analysis skills to predict the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest. He thought France or the UK would win, but they finished lower down!

Adventures and Documentaries

On 1 October 1999, Peter Snow was in a plane crash in Washington, USA. He was a passenger in a small plane that hit trees during filming for a BBC project. Luckily, he survived.

Peter Snow has made many history documentaries, often with his son, Dan Snow.

• In 2002, they presented 'Battleplan: El Alamein' for the BBC. This marked 60 years since a big battle in World War II.
• In 2004, they made an eight-part BBC series called Battlefield Britain. This show explored famous battles that happened in Britain, from ancient times to the Battle of Britain. They even showed how tough it was for soldiers by demonstrating things themselves.
• In 2006, they hosted 20th Century Battlefields for BBC 2. This series looked at important battles from around the world in the 20th century.
• They also wrote books to go along with their TV shows.

Peter and Dan Snow also presented other shows together:

• "Whose Britain is it anyway?" (2006) looked at who owns land in Britain.
• "What makes Britain rich?" (2007) and "What Britain earns" (2008) explored the UK's economy.
• They made two history series for BBC Radio Four about the Black Prince and Wellington's Peninsular War.

In 2005, Peter Snow announced he would stop working on election broadcasts. He said he would be over 70 at the next election and felt it was "a bit old to be dancing around in front of huge graphic displays."

He continued to present other programmes:

• In 2006, he presented "Pompeii Live" for Channel 5, about the ancient Roman towns.
• In 2008, he presented "Brits who Made the Modern World" for Channel 5, celebrating British engineers and inventors.
• In 2009, he took part in special ITV programmes about the Moon landings.
• In 2013, he presented D-Day As it Happens for Channel 4.
• In 2016, he presented Trainspotting Live for BBC Four, a series about trains and trainspotting.
• In 2018, he presented Great Train Restorations for Channel Four.
• In 2019, he presented Planespotting Live for BBC4.

Books by Peter Snow

Besides his TV work, Peter Snow has written many books.

• In 1970, he wrote "Leila’s Hijack War" with David Phillips. This book was about a crisis caused by Palestinian guerrillas hijacking airplanes.
• In 1972, he wrote "Hussein", a biography of King Hussein of Jordan.
• In 2010, Snow published "To War with Wellington", which tells the story of Wellington's military campaigns.
• In 2013, he published "When Britain burned the White House". This book is about the British invasion of Washington in 1814.

He has also written books with his son, Dan Snow:

• "The Battle of Waterloo Experience" (2015) was published for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.
• "Treasures of British History, The Nation's History told through its 50 Most Important Documents" (2016) explores important historical papers.

Peter Snow has also written books with his wife, Ann MacMillan:

• "War Stories, Gripping Tales of Courage, Cunning and Compassion" (2017) shares exciting stories from history.
• "Treasures of World History, the Story of Civilisation in 50 documents" (2020) looks at important documents from around the world.
• "Kings and Queens, the real lives of the English Monarchs" (2022) tells the stories of English kings and queens.

Personal Life

Peter Snow has been married twice and has six children. His eldest son, Matthieu, was born before his first marriage. Peter married Alison Carter in 1964, and they had a son (Shane) and a daughter (Shuna). They later divorced.

In 1976, Peter married Ann MacMillan. Ann works for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). They have a son, Dan, and two daughters, Rebecca and Kate. Dan Snow is married to Lady Edwina Grosvenor. Peter's wife and her sister are great-granddaughters of a former British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George.

Peter Snow was given the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006 for his great work in broadcasting. His hobbies include model railways. He has a model train set in his loft!

In 2014, Peter Snow was one of 200 public figures who signed a letter hoping that Scotland would vote to stay part of the United Kingdom in the referendum.

He is the cousin of fellow journalist Jon Snow.

Books

• Peter Snow and David Philips, Leila's Hijack War. Pan Books, 1970, ISBN: 0-330-02810-3
• Peter Snow, Hussein, a Biography. Barrie and Jenkins, 1972, ISBN: 0-214-65426-5
• Peter Snow, Dan Snow, Battlefield Britain: From Boudicca to the Battle of Britain, ISBN: 978-0-563-48789-0
• Peter Snow To War with Wellington: From the Peninsula to Waterloo, John Murray, 2010, ISBN: 978-1-84854-103-0
• Peter Snow When Britain Burned the White House: The 1814 Invasion of Washington. John Murray, London; St. Martin's Press, U.S., 2013, ISBN: 978-1-4668-4894-8
• Peter Snow and Dan Snow, The Battle of Waterloo Experience, Andre Deutsch, 2015, ISBN: 978-0-233-00447-1
• Peter Snow and Dan Snow, Treasures of British History, The Nation's History Told Through Its 50 Most Important Documents. Andre Deutsch, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-233-00218-7
• Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan, War Stories, Gripping Tales of Courage, Cunning and Compassion. John Murray 2017 ISBN: 978-1-47361-829-9
• Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan, Treasures of World History, The Story of Civilisation in 50 Documents. Welbeck 2020 ISBN: 978-0-23300-604-8.
• Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan, Kings and Queens, The Real Lives of the English Monarchs. Welbeck 2022 ISBN: 978-1-80279-003-0.