Albert Einstein: 3/14/1879

Born in Germany MARCH 14, 1879, he began teaching himself calculus at age 14. With a doctorate from the University of Zurich, he wrote papers on electromagnetic energy, relativity, and statistical mechanics. He predicted a ray of light from a distant star would appear to bend as it passed near the Sun. When an eclipse confirmed this, the London Times headline ran November 7, 1919, "Revolution in science-New theory of the Universe-Newtonian ideas overthrown." This was Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein.

Einstein's first visit to the U.S. was to raise funds for Jerusalem's Hebrew University. On his 3rd visit, 1932, he took a post at Princeton. When Nazis took over Germany, Albert Einstein stayed in the U.S., becoming a citizen in 1940.

Einstein's theory of relativity is the basis for applying atomic energy. Einstein's warning that Nazis could create an atom bomb led FDR to set up the Manhattan Project. Three years before Einstein died, he was asked to be Israel's 2nd President, but declined due to age. The periodic table's 99th element, discovered shortly after his death in 1955, was named "einsteinium". Princeton University's Fine Hall has inscribed Albert Einstein's words: "God is clever, but not dishonest."

American Minute with Bill Federer