Profile of the Day: Albert Einstein

Today we celebrate the birth of genius physicist Albert Einstein!

Image: Albert Einstein / Library of Congress

Einstein was born in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany on March 14, 1879. His father, Hermann Einstein, was a salesman and engineer. He founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, a company that manufactured electrical equipment based on direct current. His mother, Pauline Koch, ran the family household.

While on a visit to the United States in 1933, Einstein elected not to return to his home in Germany due to the rise to power of the Nazis under the country’s new chancellor, Adolf Hitler. Seven years later, he became a U.S. citizen not long after settling into his new career at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Known as one of the most brilliant and influential physicists of the 20th century, Einstein’s scientific breakthroughs drastically altered man’s understanding of the universe. In 1921, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the field.

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