The World Snooker Championship is the number one professional snooker tournament in terms of both prize money and ranking points.

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First held in 1927, the inaugural championship was won by Englishman Joe Davis, who beat Tom Dennis 20-11 at Camkin's Hall, Birmingham. Davis earned £6.10s for that victory, a far cry from 2008 when Ronnie O'Sullivan banked £250,000 for capturing the World Championship trophy.

The event has been held at various locations in its illustrious history, however since 1977 it has been played at the world famous Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England.

It was also in 1977 that the BBC began providing comprehensive coverage of the event and there have been some memorable TV moments to savour since.

The 1985 final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis certainly springs to mind, one of the most keenly contested finals in the history of the game. 

The match went down to the final ball in the final frame and emotional scenes ensued when the Irishman sank the black to beat Davis and win his first and only World Championship title 18–17.

The 1983 championship meanwhile, is best remembered for Canadian Cliff Thorburn creating snooker history by compiling the first-ever 147 maximum break at a World Snooker Championship during his second round match against Terry Griffiths.

There have been number of famous multiple winners of the tournament in the modern era, most notably Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Lasting 17 days, the World Snooker Championship is one of the longest events in sport.