Albert Einstein
- Style
- Walrus
- Peak Era
- 1920s
- Born
- 1879
- Hall of Fame
- Inducted 2024
- Fan Votes
- 0 legendary · 0 meh
About Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was born in Ulm, Germany, and was working as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, when he published four revolutionary papers in 1905, including special relativity and the photoelectric effect. His general theory of relativity followed in 1915, and its confirmation by a 1919 solar eclipse expedition made him an international celebrity overnight.
He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. He left Germany permanently in 1933 as the Nazis rose to power, settled at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and became a U.S. citizen in 1940. He was an outspoken pacifist, civil rights advocate, and later a voice for nuclear disarmament.
Einstein spent his final decades pursuing a unified field theory and died in Princeton in 1955. His name is now a synonym for genius.
Why the Stach Became Iconic
Wild white hair, kind eyes, and a thick, slightly unkempt gray mustache — the Einstein look is the universal visual code for "scientist." The mustache stayed on through every decade of his adult life, and in the famous 1951 tongue-out photograph it is the straight man to the joke.
Notable Moments
- Special relativity and the photoelectric effect (1905)
- General theory of relativity (1915)
- Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)
- Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1933–1955)
- Time magazine "Person of the Century" (1999)
- He was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 and declined.
- The famous tongue-out photo was taken on his 72nd birthday in 1951.
- He played the violin throughout his life and named his instrument "Lina."
- He rarely wore socks.
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