BBC ‘A HISTORY OF THE WORLD’.  The Uffa Fox designed Airborne Lifeboat, on display at the Classic Boat Museum in Newport, Isle of Wight, has been shortlisted as one of the objects that will be included in a BBC initiative about to hit our television screens and radios.

Felix Hetherington, Chairman of the Classic Boat Museum at Newport Quay, where the Airborne Lifeboat is displayed, said:

“It’s a wonderful chance for the museum community to educate and inform the public about the objects and ideas that have shaped the world in which they live. We are delighted that the Airborne Lifeboat has been selected and recognised for the importance of its designer Uffa Fox, the heroic saving of lives in World War 2 and the legacy of its inspiration for the development of the marine leisure craft after the war.”

This exciting major project, which is a partnership between The British Museum, the BBC and more than 350 UK Museums, launches today 18th January. With the aim of telling a ‘History of the World’ through manmade objects, more than 60 hours of television and radio will ensure the project reaches every segment of the population.

The following broadcasts will feature the ‘A History of the World’ (AHOW) project in the next 2 weeks:

• Monday 18 on BBC Radio 4 at 9.00am ‘Start the Week’ with Andrew Marr followed at 9.45am* by the first episode of the Radio 4 series ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’.
• Monday 18 January on BBC 1 at 7.30pm the ‘Inside Out’ programme.
• Monday 18 January on BBC 2 at 7.30pm ‘The Culture Show’ will feature AHOW objects from the British Museum, Birmingham, the Isle of Man and Scotland.
• Tuesday 19 January on BBC Radio 3 at 3pm ‘Making History’ will feature AHOW objects.
• Thursday 21 January at 4.30pm CBBC TV ‘Relic: Guardians of the Museum’, the first of a 13 part children’s series featuring AHOW objects.

*This is the first of 100 episodes that will broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday between 18 January and 25 February at 09.45, 19.45 and 00.30 with an omnibus each Saturday 13.00 – 14.00.

A new ground-breaking website will also be launched today 18th January which will allow the public to upload their own objects and help to create a huge digital museum, a free to enter public space facilitating countless conversations and debates. Visit website: www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld