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Did you know? Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution of Great Britain date back to 1825

Wednesday, August 2, 2023 - 13:00

You may be familiar with the CHRISTMAS LECTURES at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, but you may not know the extent of their history.

Image credit: The Royal Institution

Dating back to 1825, the lectures were originated by Michael Faraday to engage young people with science as organised education for children was a scarcity at the time. Faraday went on to present 19 CHRISTMAS LECTURES himself, the most by any individual ever.

With the exception of 1939-1946, when the lectures were suspended for WWII, they have run every year in the theatre right at the Royal Institution, where you can host your own event and stand on the shoulders of giants including William and Lawrence Bragg, David Attenborough and Dame Nancy Rothwell.

Image credit: Paul Wilkinson

First broadcast in 1936, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES is the oldest science television series. They have been broadcast every year since 1966 on the BBC and in later years on Channel Five, Channel Four and more4. In 2010, the Lectures returned to BBC Four.

Image credit: Paul Wilkinson

Due to the filming of this year’s CHRISTMAS LECTURES, the Venue Hire team only have availability in the first week of December. If you’d like to host an event here at The Ri during that week, get it touch with them as soon as you can to book it in. Alternatively, there is availability in the months prior as well as the New Year, so get in touch with the Venue Hire team at The Ri to find out more about their historic and contemporary spaces, with over 200 years of scientific heritage. All profits generated from venue hire is donated back into the charity, to support their mission to inspire people to think more deeply about science and the role it has in our lives.

For further information please contact venuehire@ri.ac.uk