Sorry, What ― David Attenborough Is The Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow

Just when you think you've fully understood everything about the world, suddenly a piece of information comes to light that completely shifts your perception of reality.

The latest news reveals that the color of rice may not make a significant difference in most cases when deciding between white or brown. Another interesting fact to learn is that tennis balls used to be either black or white before the 1970s, and even Wimbledon didn't switch until 1986.

The shade of the ball depended on the hue of the court (a bright ball for a dim court and the other way around, so the audience could perceive it).

It has always been the case―until a certain individual called David Attenborough arrived.

The host of Planet Earth began his career at BBC in 1952, even though he had only viewed a single television program at the time.

David shared with RadioTimes that he was the one who added some colour to BBC2 back in 1968, and he chose to feature Wimbledon as the grand finale of the colorful transformation.

We repeatedly requested the government's permission, but they refused to grant it. Eventually, they unexpectedly agreed to allow us to have the color TV technology after a certain period of time. This information was relayed to RadioTimes.

He mentioned his desire to achieve a full-color broadcast before West Germany, as it had already been accomplished by the US and Japan at that point.

However, as stated in the book titled "2,024 QI Facts To Stop You In Your Tracks," David Attenborough realized that the tennis balls lacked brightness and were not easily seen when captured on camera.

Back in 1972, the International Tennis Federation introduced tennis balls that were colored optic yellow. It's worth mentioning that they are officially referred to as optic yellow and not green (although I personally still perceive them as lime-colored).

Who could have anticipated that a basic sphere could possess such a plethora of legends?