This November 2022 the BBC is celebrating their 100-year anniversary. You can listen to a range of programmes on the history of the corporation via the BBC World Service.
The story starts with the radio station 2LO in central London. This was built and operated by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company opening on May 11th, 1922, and originally operating for one hour a day using a power of 100W on 350m (about 857 kHz).
On November 14th control of 2LO passed from the Marconi Company to the BBC with Arthur Burrows, later Director of the British Broadcasting Cooperation, announcing the transmission at 18.00 with: “This is 2LO, Marconi House, London calling” ushering in what has become a wide range of BBC radio and television broadcasting. BBC became a corporation on January 1st, 1927.
The remains of the 2LO master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) transmitter is at the Science Museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. The exhibit is called the 2LO London Calling Transmitter and is the first transmitter to be used by the BBC.