#OnThisDay 1969: Alistair Cooke took a break from letter writing to appear on 'Personal Cinema' where he discussed his career, family, love of film and Charlie Chaplin. | BBC Archive

#OnThisDay 1908: Alistair Cooke, the presenter of Letter from America for nearly 60 years, was born. In 1972 he shared some thoughts about the United States and journalism, on Parkinson. | BBC Archive

#OnThisDay in 1972: America: A Personal History of the United States was first broadcast on BBC2. The 13-part series was written and narrated by Alistair Cooke, who had a particularly fond regard for San Francisco. | BBC Archive

To celebrate our 50th Anniversary (today!) tune in at 10/9c tonight to watch The Unseen Alistair Cooke, a special which includes footage from 150 reels of film shot by the former MASTERPIECE host. | MASTERPIECE | PBS