Century for Young People

Peter Jennings, July 29, 1938 - August 7, 2005

Peter Jennings was born on July 29, 1938 in Toronto, Canada. His father was a reporter with the Canadian Broadcasting Company at the time and at the age of nine, Jennings hosted a half hour weekly children's show for the CBC. jennings attended Carleton University and Rider College.

In 1962, Jennings became co-anchor of Canada's first national commercial network newscast. In 1964 he moved to New York City and found a job as a correspondent for ABC. Jennings worked his way up and eventually became the anchor for ABC's nightly newscast for two years, from 1965 to 1967. He returned to reporting in 1968, and was appointed head of the ABC News Middle East Bureau in Beirut in the 70's.

In 1971, Jennings received the National Headliner Award for his report on Civil War in Bangladesh. He won the Peabody Award for his report on the Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1974. From 1974 to 1975, Jennings worked as the Washington correspondent for ABC's A.M. America, before heading to London as the chief foreign correspondent.

Once in London, jennings co-anchored ABC's World News Tonight. once the show moved to New York City in 1983, Jennings was made sole anchor of the show. Jennings interviewed Saddam Hussein right before the Gulf War, one of the only western reporters to be allowed to do so. In 1998, he published "The Century," a book of photographs focusing on the American perspective of the 20th century.

Jennings won numerous honors throughout his career, including 16 Emmys and two George Foster Peabody Awards. The Radio and Television News Directors Association awarded Jennings its highest honor, the Paul White Award in 1995, in recognition of his lifetime contributions to journalism. In 2004, he was awarded with the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting from Washington State University. Just eight days before his death, Jennings was informed that he would be in