Albert Einstein's 139th birth anniversary: Interesting facts about the renowned physicist

New Delhi: Renowned German physicist Albert Einstein is best known for giving the world's most famous equation, mass energy equivalence formula E=mc2.

The legendary scientist's work has an influence on the philosophy of science.

On his 139th birth anniversary, here are some interesting facts about the greatest theoretical physicist:

1. Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany.

2. Albert had a fat head at the time he was born. However, the fat head slowly receded and turned into a normal size as he grew older.

3. In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.

4. Einstein considered his general theory of relativity to be his masterwork. Published in 1915, the theory was the first theory of gravity to be published in the 250 years since Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity was revealed.

5. He was awarded the Royal Society of London's prestigious Copley Medal in 1925 for his theory of relativity and contributions to quantum theory.

6. Galileo Galilei was Einstein’s favorite scientist.

7. Though Einstein was born German and a Jew but died in 1955 as an American citizen. He renounced his German citizenship in 1896 and also became a Swiss citizen in 1901. 

8. As Einstein was very fond of music, he said that he would have become a musician, if not a scientist. He started playing violin at the early age of six and would rarely travel without the instrument later in life. 

10. His violin was recently sold at a New York auction house over the weekend for USD 516,500.