Albert Einstein

Every entry, with its source

At 0

1. Mar 14, 1879

   Born in Ulm, Germany

   By an often-told account, he spoke late enough to worry his parents.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 16

1. c. 1895

   Failed the Zurich Polytechnic entrance exam at 16

   His math and physics were excellent, the other subjects were not. He tried again a year later.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 17

1. Oct 1896

   Admitted to the Zurich Polytechnic

   He met Mileva Marić there, who later became his wife.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 21

1. Jul 1900

   Graduated, but could not land an assistant post

   He got by for more than two years on temporary teaching and tutoring.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 23

1. Jun 1902

   Hired as a third-class examiner at the Bern patent office

   A steady paycheck. He wrote physics papers in his spare time.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Jan 6, 1903

   Married Mileva Marić

   They had two sons.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 26

1. c. 1905

   Miracle year: special relativity and E=mc²

   Four papers in one year, written while he was still a patent clerk, the photoelectric effect among them. They changed the direction of physics.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 30

1. Oct 1909

   Left the patent office for a professorship in Zurich

   At 30, his first proper academic job.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 36

1. Nov 1915

   Published the completed general theory of relativity

   It explained gravity as the curving of space and time.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 40

1. Nov 1919

   An eclipse confirmed his theory and made him world-famous

   Front pages announced a revolution in science.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 43

1. Nov 1922

   Named winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics

   The award was for the photoelectric effect, not for relativity.

   Source: nobelprize.org

At 54

1. Oct 1933

   Moved to the US after the Nazis took power

   He settled in Princeton and never went back to Germany.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 60

1. Aug 2, 1939

   Signed a letter warning Roosevelt about the atomic bomb

   He later called that signature the one mistake of his life.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 61

1. Oct 1, 1940

   Became a US citizen

   He was 61.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 76

1. Apr 18, 1955

   Died in Princeton at 76

   He refused surgery, saying it was time to go gracefully.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org