© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sir David Attenborough Reaches 1M Instagram Followers In Hours, Breaking World Record

Sir David Attenborough, shown here during a ceremony last September, broke the world record on Thursday for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Instagram.
Asadour Guzelian
/
AFP via Getty Images
Sir David Attenborough, shown here during a ceremony last September, broke the world record on Thursday for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Instagram.

Naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, 94, broke the world record on Thursday for the fastest time to reach 1 million followers on Instagram, according to Guinness World Records.

Attenborough did it in four hours and 44 minutes.

He beat out the previous record holder, actress Jennifer Aniston, who reached the benchmark in five hours and 16 minutes after joining last October. Attenborough's first post was a short video, little over a minute long.

"I've been appearing on radio and television for the past 60 years," he began. "But this is my first time on Instagram."

Attenborough stated the reason he decided to join Instagram simply: "The world is in trouble."

"Continents are on fire, glaciers are melting, coral reefs are dying, fish are disappearing from our oceans. The list goes on and on," he said. "But we know what to do about it, and that's why I'm tackling this new way of communication."

Attenborough is no newcomer to Guinness World Records — he already holds two, for the longest career as a TV presenter and the longest career as a television naturalist. Planet Earth, one of Attenborough's popular projects, holds the record for most in-demand documentary TV show.

His career spans almost seven decades and his latest documentary project, David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, will appear on Netflix in October.

He closed out his first-ever Instagram post the same way he might have finished an early radio broadcast:

"Stay tuned."

Reese Oxner is an intern on NPR's News Desk.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content