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Life Event: Albert Einstein is born
On the night of March 14th in 1879, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany to Jewish parents Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch. Hermann, a businessman who managed a local factory, and Pauline, an accomplished pianist, both would've never predicted there son's mass success. Throughout his childhood, young Albert never showed signs of being anything special... he didn't even say his first words until he was three! (Kondo 1-3) -
World Event: Spanish American War Begins
On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the U.S. which was followed by our own declaration the next day. Few battles were fought during the short duration of the war, though most ended with American victory. On July 17, a fleet docked in Cuba led by Adm. Pascual Cervera surrendered after a devastating attack by U.S. ships. The Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, which officially ended the conflict (Spanish American War). -
World Event: Wright Brothers 1st Airplane.
On the sand dunes near Kitty Hawk, NC in the Outer Banks, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright succesfully flew the first manned aircraft 852 feet in 59 seconds (1903-The First Flight). With their success, Aeronautics would be founded, and the technology of aircrafts would improve immensly by the time World War II began, where fighter jets and bombers became a key advantage in battle. -
Life Event: Einstein Recieves his Ph D.
The same year that he published his Special Theory of Relativity and his Quantum Theory, Einstein recieved his Doctorate in Physics and Mathmatics from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, Switzerland. He later worked as a professor at the school. Einstein stayed in Switzerland for a couple of years and eventually gained citizenship in the country. He also gained Doctorates in Science, Medicine, and Philosophy from other colleges in Europe and America. -
Life Event: Special Theory Of Relativity.
Considered his greatest feat, Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity changed the world of Physics in such a way that many of the ideas already existing were abandoned due to the corrections in his work. Einstein stated that mass, space, and time all varied on how fast you move, and that the faster you move, the greater your mass is, the less space you take up, and the slower time passes for you. He proved his theory with the famous equation E=mc2 (Spangenburg 30-31). -
Life Event: German Yearbook of Physics.
1905 can be concidered the height of Einstein's life and career. That year, at only 26 years old, he not only got his Ph D. but also published five research papers to the German Yearbook of Physics (Spangenburg 28). Among these papers was his most famous theory in which the equation E=mc2 was created... The Special Theory of Relativity (Spangenburg 30-31). Also in the collection was his paper on the Photoelectric Effect, for which he won a Nobel Prize in Physics (Spangenburg 28-29). -
World Event: World War I Begins
The attack by the German military on Belgium marked the beginning of the first World War. Their strategy was to go through Belgium into Northern France and make way to Paris, which they would later be unsuccesful in capturing (Kondo 35). The war is best known for the use of trenches and chemical weapons such as chlorine and mustard bombs, which would be banned by Geneva Convention in the future. The war ended on November 11, 1918 with Germany's surrender at Compiégne Forest, France (Kondo 36). -
Life Event: General Theory Of Relativity.
Based off of his Special Theory, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity helped explain the behavior of matter when it was not moving straight constant speed, as was the matter which he used his Special Theory to explain. Einstein added a 4th dimension, time, to the already exixting 3 dimensions of space (length, width, and height), which together created space-time continuum. He also stated that gravity was not a force, but a curvature (alteration/mistake) in space-time (Spangenburg 32). -
Life Event: 1921 Nobel Prize
Although not the most important of his 1905 publishing's, Einstein's paper on the photoelectric effect won him the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. The photoelectric theory states that when light hits certain metals, electrons are emitted. Einstein declared that light travels in quanta and that the brightness of the light does not effect the energy of the electrons, but can effect the number of electrons released (Spangenburg 28-29). -
World Event: Black Thursday.
The day known as "Black Thursday" marked the end of the Roaring 20's and the beginning of the Great Depression. On the morning of October 24th, the stock market crashed so fast, there was no time to invest for recovery. Thirty billion dollars had been lost (more than twice the national depth). Suicide attempts erupted all over the country, with bankrupt investors and entrepreneurs jumping from their own buildings (The Wall Street Crash, 1929). -
Life Event: Einstein Leaves Germany.
By the 1930's, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party were gaining power in Germany. Prejudice against followers of the Jewish religion was spreading across the country and soon the Nazis would begin to hunt down those of the Jewish faith. Einstein, being Jewish by birth to two Jewish parents, felt that it was time to leave his home country. In 1930 he travelled to the United States in search of a better life and more scientific opportunities. In 1940 he became a legal citizen in America. -
Life Event: "The World As I See It."
"The World As I See It" is an essay by Albert Einstein about his philosophy on life, God, and society (Einstein). Einstein was a pacifist and Jewish, He often lectured about peace and was a member of many peace organizations around the world. He helped Jewish people through the hardships they faced in World War II, and was even asked to be the the President of Isreal (Albert Einstein - Full). His essay contained his thoughts on peace and religion and is still being printed today. -
World Event: The Bombing of Pearl Harbor.
At 7:53 A.M. the first wave of Japanese aircrafts began bombing and firing upon American naval ships and crew docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The second wave hit at 8:55 A.M. When the attack had seased, 2,403 citizens and soldiers lay dead on land or underwater. 188 U.S. airplanes were destroyed along with eight battleships and more smaller ships in the fleet (Attack). Losses included U.S.S. Nevada and the famous U.S.S. Arizona, on which 1,177 men died (Remembering). -
Life Event: The Manhatten Project
After being urged by Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and others, Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the development of an atomic bomb in 1941. Code named the Manhattan Project, the bomb development was known by only head scientists working directly on the project. Using Einstein's E=mc2, they were able to make a great amount of energy with an atom of small mass. In July, 1945 at Trinity Sight in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the first atomic bomb was detonated with succesful results (The Manhattan). -
World Event: Aneurysm Discovered.
Part of the Descending Aorta and in between the Kidneys, the Aneurysm is a spot in the vein which is a collection spot for blood that needs to go to the Kidneys. What is important about this discovery is that it would later be a part of Einstein's death. In 1955 his Aortic Aneurysm burst. Surgery was offered to him, but he refused, saying that he wanted to die when it was his time, which it soon would be, and that he did not want surgery to interfere with what was meant to be. -
Life Event: Albert Einstein Dies.
At the age of 76, Albert Einstein left the world as a hero of Physics, and conciderably the greatest scientist of the 20th century. He not only changed Physics with his Special and General Theories of Relativity, but was concidered to have saved humanity from Hitler's evil, by encouraging U.S. development of the atomic bomb, though it went against his pacifistic way of living. Einstein's genius and crazy way of thinking helped explain many seemingly unanswerable questions about the universe.
