Cliff Thorburn made the first televised 147 break at the 1983 World Championship.
Thorburn completed the maximum against Terry Griffiths in the second round at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The break was broadcast to a wide audience and became one of the defining moments in snooker’s television history. It was also the first maximum break made at the Crucible.
The sequence followed the standard maximum pattern: fifteen reds paired with fifteen blacks, followed by the colours in order. Because a black is worth 7 and a red is worth 1, the opening part contributes 120 points, while the colour clearance adds 27.
Thorburn’s achievement is frequently mixed up with Steve Davis’s earlier record. Davis made the first officially recognised professional maximum in 1982, at the Lada Classic. Thorburn’s distinction was being the first to make a 147 on television, and the location added another first because the Crucible had only begun hosting the world championship in 1977.