Welcome, little explorers, to take a look at one of the world’s “genius,” Albert Einstein😲!
From his fascinating theory of relativity, which became one of the most important foundations of modern physics, to some of his mind-blowing scientific breakthroughs, this exceptional physicist has some brilliant facts to offer!
This article will offer some fascinating facts about Albert Einstein that will leave you completely speechless!
Let’s start this wonderful 😊 exploration!
Mysterious Albert Einstein Facts
Albert Einstein: This exceptional physicist was born 1879
Little fact lovers, did you know this amazing fact?
Albert Einstein, one of the greatest physicists of all time, was born at 11:30 am on Friday, March 14, 1879.
He took birth in Ulm, Germany, and his parents👩 👨were Hermann Einstein and Pauline Einstein.
At age 29, Einstein’s father married Pauline Kock, who was eleven years junior of her husband.
Though, Einstein’s parents planned to name the boy Abraham after Einstein’s grandfather; however, they thought that the name appeared “too Jewish” and named him Albert!
Einstein didn’t like wearing socks
If you like to explore quirky facts, then you will surely love to know this habit of Albert Einstein!
He was quite proud of never wearing socks, and he even stated this truth in several letters he wrote!
When he was young, he found that whenever he wore socks, the big toe would always create holes in his socks!
Thus, he stopped wearing socks altogether!
He liked wearing sandals rather than shoes 👞. This genius even stated that he would sometimes go to important occasions wearing high-cut boots to hide the thing that he wasn’t wearing socks!
This genius scientist was born with a fat or misshapen head
Did you hear this fun fact about the great Albert Einstein 🤔!! Let’s explore!!
In 1879, when this amazing person was born, he had quite a large, misshapen head along with a grossly overweight body!
This became a fact of great concern for his parents, who were scared that he might be deformed!
Upon first seeing him, Einstein’s grandmother even exclaimed that her grandson was “much too fat!”
His physician didn’t worry too much about it, and a few weeks later, his head started taking a normal shape!
Contrary to people’s belief, Einstein didn’t fail math in reality
According to an urban legend, Albert Einstein failed math when he was quite young.
However, later he proved himself to be one of the finest physicists ever!
Although it’s quite an inspiring story, it is not actually true! In reality, he excelled in both physics and math at a young age.
He even taught himself more complex mathematics, like algebra and Euclidian geometry, in the span of only one summer!
Moreover, when he was just 12 years 🧒old, he even discovered his own proof of the Pythagorean theorem, and only at the age of 14 he mastered calculus!
Albert Einstein in his childhood: He had speech difficulty
His parents were worried that Einstein might have had a mental issue because he couldn’t speak until he was about four years old.
Due to this, social theorists even used the term “Einstein Syndrome” later to describe bright kids who also experience late language emergence! Quite interesting, isn’t it?
Music and Einstein: He was a big fan of music
I am quite amazed to explore this fascinating fact about the great Albert Einstein! Want to know?
He was a lover of music! He was quite passionate about music 🎼.
He even stated that sometimes he thought in terms of music and experienced some of his greatest happiness in music, and he would likely have become a musician if he weren’t a physicist!
At the age of 5, his mother had him learn violin; however, he didn’t enjoy it then. At age 13, he found Mozart’s compositions and started to take more interest in music!
Einstein at the age of 16: He renounced his citizenship and became a stateless individual
I am really impressed to learn this fact about Einstein!
Upon his birth, this world-famous scientist became a citizen of the German Empire!
However, at the age 16, with the approval of his father, Einstein renounced his German citizenship. He did this to avoid military service.
Due to this, Einstein became a stateless person for five years prior to becoming a naturalized citizen of Switzerland!
Later, he kept his Swiss citizenship for the rest of his life.
After receiving his teaching diploma: Einstein had to struggle a lot to find work
Did you know this strange fact about Albert Einstein??
In 1900, after receiving his teaching diploma, Albert Einstein spent around two years searching for a teaching job! Quite strange, isn’t it?
As intelligent as brilliant he was, he still struggled to get a job!
Eventually, he found a job at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property in Bern, as a patent examiner!
Einstein worked there for seven years, and he was so efficient at his job that he even had time to work on his scientific researches during his time as a patent clerk.
Einstein loved sailing: However, he was not so good at it
Einstein first took up sailing, when he was still a student in Zurich.
This became another favorite hobby of his, and he often would go to the seas as a way to think. Sometimes, he would sail ⛵in the seas aimlessly for several hours a day.
However, this highly talented person wasn’t as adept at sailing as he was in physics. Often, he would lose his way on his trips even in his late years.
Also, because he didn’t know swimming, Einstein required other people to come and rescue him.
Albert Einstein: He slept for almost 10 hours a day
We all are aware of the fact that sleep is essential to keep the brain functioning effective. Thus, even Einstein held sleep in high regard!
It had been reported that Albert Einstein slept😴 for around 10 hours per day, which is more than the typical human’s sleeping time of from 6 to 8 hours.
The year 1905: It was Einstein’s ‘miracle year’
The year 1905 was a great year for Einstein, it was actually his ‘miracle year or Annus Mirabilis.
In 1905, he finished his thesis and got his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich.
Also, he published four major works that would revolutionize modern physics later!!
Those papers📚 included his work on special relativity, Brownian motion, the photoelectric effect, and also the mass-energy equivalence.
All of these Annus Mirabilis papers changed the way scientists view space, matter, and time! Another interesting fact is that he accomplished all of these when he was just 26 years of old. Amazed??
A more efficient shape for wings: Einstein proposed this, but his design flopped
Have you heard that this immensely intelligent person even proposed a more efficient shape for wings??
In 1916, he wrote a scientific paper showing a new design for aircraft wings✈️.
He wrote the proposal to improve lift in aircraft and based his design on the theorem of Bernoulli. However, the design was not completely accurate.
When the designed was tested by engineers against conventional airplane wings, the second ones achieved quite better lift than Einstein’s design!
Albert Einstein in 1926: He co-invented the Einstein-Szilard refrigerator
I am really surprised to explore this fascinating fact about Albert Einstein!
He was not only a great scientist, but also an inventor.
Along with his student Leo Szilard, he invented the Einstein-Szilard refrigerator, in 1926 and even got a patent for it in the year 1930!
The refrigerator didn’t make use of freon and also didn’t have any moving parts!
Although it was durable, noiseless, and even not so expensive to make, it wasn’t as energy-efficient as the typical refrigerator and could not take off commercially.
Einstein had a distinct style of teaching
In 1909, at the age of 30, Einstein got appointed as a junior professor 👨🏫at the University of Zurich!
He used cards instead of papers for making notes, and he would note down his ideas during the lectures.
Also, he allowed his students to interrupt him, and he would also stop his students to ask if they were following him.
This kind of interaction between the teacher and the students was quite unique at that time.
Einstein was a civil rights activist
Have you heard about Albert Einstein being an activist?? Let me explain.
As a Jewish scientist during the peak time of anti-Semitism in Germany, Einstein was aware of the injustices in society!
He stood up for civil rights on many occasions and even empathized with the humans who experienced discrimination, especially in the U.S.A.
He bore witness to the racial discrimination that was quite common in America, mainly towards African Americans!
While delivering a speech at Lincoln University, he called racism a ‘disease’ and openly spoke out against it.
He even had friendly relations with Afro-Americans!
During the Nazi rule: Albert Einstein helped thousands of Jewish scientists
During the Nazi rule, this great person corresponded with several leaders, like Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Ismet Inonu, and Austen Chamberlain. Impressive, isn’t it?
In their correspondence, Einstein convinced the leaders to find out Jewish scientists in Germany and even give them employment in their respective countries.
Thus, Einstein helped save hundreds of lives. Truly remarkable! Isn’t it?
The FBI spied on Einstein for many years
Due to his reputation as a world-famous scientist and social activist, the FBI kept tabs on the actions of this German-born exceptional physicist.
Since 1932, the Federal Bureau of Investigation kept a secret dossier on Einstein due to his relation with different peace and socialist organizations.
The FBI suspected the scientist of being a communist and a radical, and the director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover, even wanted to keep Einstein out of America.
At the time of Einstein’s death, the dossier contained 1427 pages!
In 1921, Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics: For his works on the photoelectric effect
We all know him as a renowned scientist who got the Nobel Prize🥇 in 1921!
Although he was quite famous for his theory of relativity and mass-energy equivalence, he didn’t get the Nobel Prize for these!
In 1921, he actually won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his notable works on the photoelectric effect.
Although Einstein didn’t find out phenomenon, his explanation of the laws of the photoelectricity greatly influenced the understanding of physicists of light and its properties!
Mileva Maric: The first wife of Einstein was a remarkable physicist
The first wife of this world-famous scientist, Albert Einstein, Mileva Maric 👰♀️was also a great mathematician and physicist!
Some even say that she helped Einstein form concepts in his Annus Mirabilis papers!
When Einstein was studying to get his teaching diploma, Maric was the only woman in their class.
At that time, higher academic institutions didn’t readily accept women.
Due to these strict rules, her admission to the Zurich Polytechnic was a testament to her remarkable talents!
Einstein became friends with her, and they eventually became lovers, and they married in 1903. However, the two divorced in 1919.
Second wife of Einstein: She was Einstein’s cousin
After divorcing Maric, Einstein married his cousin, Elsa Einstein!
Their relationship started in 1912, while Einstein was already married to Maric!
Einstein married Elsa on June 2, 1919, about just three and a half months after the divorce.
Though Albert and Elsa didn’t have children of their own, he and Maric had two sons.
Moreover, Einstein and Elsa raised Elsa’s daughters from her first marriage.
Summing up
So little fact-enthusiasts, now you know quite a lot about Albert Einstein!!
We can never gather too much knowledge about the person who himself was the fountain of knowledge. So….now we stop here and move on to some other important personality…..
See you soon…..😲!!
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)
