Nobel Prizes

December 10, 1901: The first Nobel Prizes are awarded. The categories include Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine. Economics was added in 1969 and is a non-official prize funded through a different source. The majority of the prizes are handed out in Stockholm, Sweden with the Peace prize given in Oslo, Norway. The prizes are awarded on December 10 each year, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death at age 63. He suffered a stroke and died in Sanremo, Italy in 1896.

Nobel Prize

Alfred was born in Stockholm in 1833. His family moved to St. Petersburg where his father helped to build torpedoes. His father was also the inventor of plywood. The family moved back to Sweden when the family works in Russia went bankrupt. Alfred studied explosives and found that nitroglycerine mixed with an inert substance was safer and more portable. He patented his invention, dynamite, in 1867.

Dynamite was first demonstrated at a quarry in Surrey, England and proved a success. Nobel went on to experiment with nitroglycerine and gun-cotton to make a jelly-like and more powerful explosive called gelignite. That too was patented, this time in 1876. He continued to modify and improve his explosives. In 1888 a French newspaper printed a premature obituary and said, “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.” Not wanting to be known as a bringer of death, Alfred devised a better way for his name to be remembered.

His last will and testament left 31 million kroner ($141 million in 2010 currency) to fund a set of prizes to be given to the best and brightest in several fields. Between 1901 and 2011, 830 Laureates and 23 organizations have been awarded the Nobel Prize. Women have received 40 awards. Lawrence Bragg was the youngest recipient when he took the prize for Physics in 1915 at the tender age of 25 and the oldest Laureate to date is Leonid Hurwicz, who was 90 years old when he was awarded the 2007 Prize in Economic Sciences. Two Laureates have turned down the prize and four winners have been forced to refuse the honor. Four individuals and two organizations are multiple winners. Three Laureates were under arrest at the time they were given their awards.

“I can forgive Alfred Nobel for having invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.” – George Bernard Shaw

“The Nobel Peace Prize is a powerful message. A durable peace is not a single achievement, but an environment, a process and a commitment.” – Mohamed ElBaradei

“I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.” – Steven Wright

“I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.” – Alfred Bernhard Nobel

Also on this day:

Stop! Go! – In 1868, the first traffic signal is used for the railroads.
Giving All – In 1907, a riot broke out in Trafalgar Square against the use of vivisection.