Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany, while Thomas Edison was also working on his famous light bulb around that time.

As a baby, Albert Einstein had such a large head that his family worried something was wrong. His grandmother said “Much too fat, much too fat!” when she first saw him.

Albert Einstein didn’t speak until he was around 3 years old. When he finally did, he spoke in complete sentences.

Albert Einstein’s father gave him a compass when he was 5 years old. He was fascinated by how the needle always pointed north, calling it a “wonder.”

Albert Einstein’s mother was a talented pianist and insisted he learn violin at age 6. He continued playing violin his entire life.

Albert Einstein’s family owned an electrical engineering business, which helped spark his interest in science and mathematics.

As a child, Albert Einstein built incredible houses of cards – sometimes reaching 14 stories high!

Albert Einstein loved solving puzzles and doing math problems for fun, often working on them late into the night by candlelight.

Young Einstein had a habit of throwing tantrums when frustrated. Once, he threw a chair at his tutor!

Albert Einstein’s first school was the Catholic Elementary School in Munich, even though his family was Jewish.

At age 12, Albert Einstein taught himself algebra and geometry from a book during summer vacation.

Albert Einstein read his first science books so many times, the pages became worn and torn from use.

Albert Einstein’s teachers often got frustrated because he asked too many questions in class.

Albert Einstein failed his first attempt at entering college – he did great in math and physics but struggled with other subjects.

Albert Einstein attended the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School (now ETH Zurich) at age 17, where he met his first wife, Mileva Marić.

While in college, Albert Einstein rarely attended lectures, preferring to study independently.

Albert Einstein graduated from college in 1900, but had trouble finding a teaching job because his professors were annoyed by his independent attitude.

Albert Einstein published his Theory of Relativity in 1905, when he was just 26 years old.

Albert Einstein’s famous equation E=mc² shows that energy (E) equals mass (m) times the speed of light (c) squared.

Light travels at exactly 299,792,458 meters per second – Albert Einstein proved this speed is always the same.

Albert Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for explaining how light behaves like both a wave and a particle.

Albert Einstein published over 300 scientific papers during his lifetime.

Albert Einstein’s theories helped create GPS technology – without his work, our phones wouldn’t know where we are!

Albert Einstein predicted gravitational waves in 1916, but they weren’t detected until 2015 – nearly 100 years later!

The word “quantum” appears in Albert Einstein’s papers 59 times – he helped develop quantum physics, even though he later disagreed with parts of it.

Albert Einstein’s work helped explain why the sky is blue (it’s because of how light scatters in the atmosphere).

Albert Einstein showed that time moves differently depending on how fast you’re moving or how close you are to a large object like Earth.

Albert Einstein never wore socks, saying they would get holes anyway. He was known for wearing sandals or going barefoot instead.

Albert Einstein’s favorite food was eggs — he would eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Albert Einstein loved sailing, but wasn’t very good at it. He often ran his boat aground or capsized.

Albert Einstein played his violin in local string quartets and named it “Lina.”

Albert Einstein’s hair was so wild because he refused to use hair products and rarely got haircuts.

Albert Einstein owned several pipes but didn’t inhale the smoke — he just liked how it helped him think.

Albert Einstein often forgot where he lived and had to ask people for directions to his own house.

Albert Einstein had a cat named Tiger that would get depressed whenever it rained.

Albert Einstein loved bird watching and kept detailed notes about the birds he saw.

Albert Einstein used the same soap for washing and shaving to keep things simple.

Albert Einstein worked as a patent clerk while developing his most famous theories.

Albert Einstein wore the same type of gray suit every day to avoid wasting time choosing clothes.

Albert Einstein took a nap every afternoon for exactly 20 minutes and slept around 10 hours each night.

Albert Einstein had a funny way of taking naps! He would sit in his comfy chair and hold a spoon in his hand, with a metal plate underneath. When he started to doze off, the spoon would drop and make a loud clink on the plate, waking him up!

Albert Einstein rode his bicycle almost every day, even in his 70s.

Albert Einstein never memorized his own phone number, saying he could just look it up in the phone book.

Albert Einstein played Mozart’s music when stuck on difficult problems, saying it helped him think.

Albert Einstein loved sailing so much that friends gave him a sailboat for his 50th birthday.

Time magazine named Albert Einstein “Person of the Century” in 1999.

The element Einsteinium (Es) was named after Albert Einstein in 1952.

Albert Einstein’s brain was preserved for scientific study and is now in several museums.

Albert Einstein’s face appears on stamps in more than 25 countries around the world.

Albert Einstein helped establish the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925.