ITN airs its first news bulletin at 10pm on September 22nd. With Christopher Chataway as newscaster and the slogan ‘See It Happen’, it shook up the news industry with its ambition to bring the rigour of print journalism to television and set the standard for broadcast news.

Previously a freelance scriptwriter for the BBC’s Newsreel, Barbara joined ITN at its launch and presented the midday bulletin. Barbara recalled: “The midday news was aimed mainly at women so it was much lighter in content than the main evening news, and it was decided it was inappropriate for women to be associated with disasters and war reports, so we focused on stuff like fashion and cookery.”

ITN was the first commercial broadcaster to cover a general election in the UK. The ITV network provided election night coverage ITN in London. ITV was given permission by the Independent Television Authority to use all of the ITV companies on air in 1959 for election links to the main studio in London. Ian Trethowan was the presenter for the ITV coverage that saw Conservative, Harold Macmillian elected as PM. As the programme went on the air, Geoffrey Cox (Editor-in-chief of ITN) said to him: “I just want you to know, Ian, that the whole future of ITV is on your shoulders tonight.”

Robin Day's rigorous interview style seen in his extended interview with PM at the time Harold Macmillan sets a new tone and standard for broadcast interviews.

Telstar brought the first TV picture across the Atlantic. Ian Trethowan was the UK presenter who described seeing a flicking image of a person sitting at a desk in the USA. Within a year, transatlantic TV would bring images of two major US stories: Kennedy assassination and what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

ITN’s Roving Report joined the Beatles on their last tour to the US. After Lennon’s infamous quote that the band was ‘bigger than Jesus’ the film called The Beatles in the Bible Belt documented the protests and record-burning that followed.

The UK’s first half hour bulletin that began as a three-month trial has become an institution. The headlines were read by Alastair Burnet: Railway strike called off; More fighting on the Suez Canal; The Queen Expo ’67 and Taylor in Wimbledon semi-final.

The largest tanker ever to be wrecked spilt 120,000 tons of oil off the coast of Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. ITN reported on the RAF’s mission to bomb the wreck to reduce the size of the spill.

14.5 million viewers watched ITN’s coverage of the moon landing, beating the BBC in the ratings which only drew 12 million. Coverage ran for 10 hours but the caption machine churned out the word ‘Ouchdown’ to describe the greatest moment in space history.

ITN brought some colour to the General Election that saw a surprise victory for Conservative’s Edward Heath over incumbent Labour leader Harold Wilson, not only in the form of banter between David Frost and Alastair Burnet, but also because the images were in technicolour for the first time.

One of ITN’s biggest scoops was capturing footage of planes hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine being destroyed on a remote airstrip in Dawson’s Field, Jordan. Palestinian cameraman Ghassan Dallal shot the footage with Michael Nicolson reporting the release of the 300 hostages and the destruction of the planes that happened afterwards. Under Dallal’s silent footage is an interview with Air Stewardess Roma Thadaney talking about the hijacking.

Gerald Seymour reports for the News at Ten as bullets are fired by the British army during its worse ever confrontation with the Catholic people of the Bogside in Northern Ireland. What started as a civil rights march resulted in 13 deaths and multiple casualties and led to two major inquiries.

This horrific war produced many shocking images, but it’s the picture of nine-year-old Kim Phuc running from a napalm attack on her village in Trang Bang captured by ITN cameraman Alan Downes that endures. The war continued for three years but the power of TV images helped turn public opinion in the US against the conflict.

The BBC team in Cyprus at the time decided to pull out as nothing seemed to be happening with the local crisis at the time. They discovered a civilian plane was leaving for the UK and drove off to catch it, without letting Michael Nicholson know. As he and his crew drove off they suffered a puncture a few miles from Nicosia. As they stopped to change the tyre, the Turkish paras started to drop down into the adjacent field. Mike walked up to the Turkish commander and said "Morning Major from ITN British Television. Welcome to Cyprus". The film was shot by Alan Downes. They then raced to the airport and got the film on an RAF plane,” remembers Duncan Jones, former ITN cameraperson and editor.

Journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein rocked the Nixon administration by breaking the Watergate bugging scandal. In 1973, ITN's Michael Brunson interviewed the two Washington Post journalists. In 1974, Nixon resigned.

Six gunmen took occupants of the Iranian embassy in London hostage on 30 April. On 5 May, the SAS dramatically ended the siege. ITN captured unique footage of the mission because it was the only news outlet to have smuggled a camera around the back of the building. The newsflash attracted 11m viewers and won an RTS Award for ITN.

On ITN’s 25th anniversary the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited the ITN offices on Wells Street. They were greeted by a cheering crowd, packed into a tiny lift and taken to the newsroom to meet the team.

In 1980, Jon Snow became involved in the rescue of passengers onboard the British cargo ship Atlantin which was trapped in the Shatt al Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq during the Iran/Iraq war. Jon swam out to the ship at low tide with an Iraqi commando to agree a signal to lower the lifeboats the following day, nearly getting swept into the Iranian line of fire in the process. It was one of the first times an electronic camera had been used on a foreign assignment, with its superior night-time capabilities. Had it been on film, News at Ten viewers would not have seen the people on board climb to safety.

ITN was out in force to cover the royal wedding in partnership with Thames TV. Instead of just talking heads, packages included vox pops with the crowd, backgrounders on guests, designers and contributors plus aerial images and commentary from a Goodyear Airship.

Channel 4 News went on air for the first time on November 2nd 1982 presented by Peter Sissons, Sarah Hogg and Trevor McDonald.

“The Ministry of Defence was very reluctant to allow any TV personnel aboard the fleet that sailed to the Falklands,” remembers former ITN cameraperson and editor, Duncan Jones. “In the event a BBC crew was allowed on board with Michael Nicholson from ITN and Brian Hanrahan from the BBC. ITN Engineers were sent to Ascension Island so the video tapes could be transmitted to London by satellite.” (In the footage, Michael Nicholson reports.)

UK Prime Minster, Margaret Thatcher, and, POTUS, Ronald Reagan, enjoyed what became known as ‘a special relationship’. Washington Correspondent, Jon Snow reports their first kiss.

Alastair Stewart, John Suchet, Jon Snow and Trevor McDonald report fall of the wall that had divided Berlin for more than 25 years.

In 1990 Sir Trevor was the first person to interview Nelson Mandela after his release from prison in South Africa. Trevor McDonald became the solo anchor of News at Ten in 1992 and became synonymous with ITV News’ output and landmark interviews that also included former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

“Together with cameraman Steve Harrow, producer Mike Gillings and reporter Sandy Gall we set out into the Saudi desert avoiding roadblocks to await the Allied forces attack on Iraqi-held Kuwait,” recalls Duncan Jones, who was the sound recordist in the team. “Officially, the press was only allowed to have access via the 'embed' system. Cameraman Nigel Thomson and reporter Paul Davies were given military uniforms and the rank of Captain, and accompanied the British Army wherever they went. As a result, they missed a lot of the action, so it was decided we would circumvent the rules and drive out into the desert, but it still meant we had to avoid Saudi press officers. Camping out in the desert is not much fun as it gets cold at night and it sometimes rains. At one point we joined Saudi forces at the front line, where we experienced some incoming shelling. Luckily the shells landed in the desert a little way away so we were just showered with sand. We beat a hasty retreat! A few days later we arrived in Kuwait City 24 hours after the Iraqis had left. ITN had three crews in the city ahead of both the BBC and Sky News. The Kuwaitis were jubilant to see us and handed out sweets and showered us with kisses. We filmed the Kuwaitis burning Iraqi flags and images of Saddam Hussein.”

Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadizic, allowed Penny Marshall and her team to look around camps where Bosnian men were being held. The harrowing images they recorded of the starving Muslim men in the camps for News at Ten helped persuade US President George Bush that Western military action was needed.

Cameras used by broadcast media were accidentally left rolling after Michael Brunson concluded his interview with PM John Major about winning the confidence vote over his handling of the Maastricht Treaty, known as the Treaty of Europe. The conversation between Brunson and Major was available to several broadcast news outlets and was leaked to the press. Reports that Major called Eurosceptic cabinet members ‘bastards’ plunged his leadership into crisis.

Colin Baker covered the horrific attack for ITN that saw a local man randomly open fire on children in class, killing 16 children and their teacher. The massacre is one of the most harrowing events in Britain’s modern history and Baker’s coverage won awards for its sensitivity towards the traumatised community.

5 News launched on 30 March 1997 amid a fanfare provided by the Spice Girls who were at the peak of their fame, presented by Kirsty Young perched on top of a desk, instead of behind one – something which generated acres of press coverage at the time.

News that Princess Diana had been involved in a car crash in Paris broke in the early hours of Saturday 31 August. ITV News’ Dermot Murnaghan and royal correspondent Nicholas Owen rushed to the studio to present ITN’s rolling coverage as did production teams and journalists. The scene of silent mourners at Kensington Palace conveyed the magnitude of the story. Owen said ITN captured the mood of the day: “That’s one of ITN’s strengths. Strong presentation in the studio allied with a close rapport with the public.”

As optimism was fading for a peace agreement for Northern Ireland, the announcement came at 5.36pm on Good Friday. ITN’s John Irvine reported the historic moment for News at Ten.

News that an aircraft had crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York came into ITN via an agency report. When the second plane hit the South Tower, ITV agreed to ITN broadcasting a newsflash. Kirsty Young, then an anchor on ITV Evening News, stepped up to anchor. The newsflash turned into five hours of rolling news.

When the war ended, ITV News correspondent John Irvine was the first journalist to see the advancing American troops arrive in Baghdad. But the controversial US and British military operation resulted in tragedy for ITN as ITV News correspondent Terry Lloyd, camera person Fred Nerac and translator Hussein Osman lost their lives and Channel 4 News’ Gaby Rado also died in Iraq in a separate equally tragic incident.

On July 7, 2005 three British-born suicide bombers attacked London’s underground and a bus carrying commuters killing 52 people in the city’s worst attack since the Second World War. ITN went on air from the majority of the day with open-ended coverage on ITV News and specials from Channel 4 News.

The ‘News at When’ era ended as ITV chairman Michael Grade reinstated News at Ten, after the ITN news broadcast had moved around the schedule. The bulletin returned with its original name in January 2008, with anchor team Trevor McDonald, Julie Etchingham and Mark Austin.

In the year ITN Productions was founded the first of its two award-winning investigative documentaries into the Sri Lankan civil war made politicians take notice. The Foreign Office’s Minister for South Asia, Alistair Burt responded: “Once again, Channel 4 has brought to international attention important and disturbing evidence to support allegations of grave abuses in Sri Lanka. Since the end of the conflict, the international community has called for an independent, credible and thorough investigation into alleged war crimes on both sides of the conflict. Channel 4’s documentaries reinforce the need for that investigation.”

It was the year David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg went head-to-head on live TV in the first ever leaders’ debate in the run up to the general election. Moderator Alastair Stewart oversaw proceedings out of which the catchphrase ‘I agree with Nick’ was born.

The devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on the 11th of March 2011. Julie Etchingham’s report features shocking amateur video showing the full impact of the disaster.

ITN has a long history of reporting on the highs and lows of the royal family and the day the Queen celebrated 60 years on the throne was definitely a high. Mark Austin was in the crowds soaking up the atmosphere for those who couldn’t be there in person.

A year of unprecedented terror attacks in France started with the incident at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January. In November, Channel 4 News was in Paris as another wave of attacks took place across the capital. The danger in Matt Frei's report is palpable.

It was a referendum that Tory PM David Cameron didn’t have to call. Instead of shoring up divisions in his party, it resulted in the fracturing of a nation. On the night of the referendum, ITV News coverage anchored by Tom Bradby called a ‘Leave’ win before the official numbers were in.

On June 14, fire ripped through the high-rise block in West London killing many who were trapped in inside. ITV London News’ Rags Martell reported from the horrific scene on the night and has continued to report the survivors’ campaign for justice.

Reports started to filter out of China about a new strain of deeply infectious and fast-spreading coronavirus. ITV News Asia correspondent, Debi Edward reported from Wuhan on 20th January about the Chinese response to this new threat to public health.