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1879
Born to Hermann Einstein (a featherbed salesman) and his wife
Pauline in Ulm, Germany.
1884
Receives his first compass around this time, inspiring a lifelong
quest to investigate mysteries of the natural world.
1889
Settles into a program of self-education at age 10 and begins
reading as much about science as he can.
1894
Stays on in Munich to finish the school year after his parents move
to Pavia, Italy. Lasts only one term on his own and then follows his
family to Italy.
1895
Attempts to skip high school by taking an entrance exam to the Swiss
Polytechnic, a top technical university, but fails the arts portion.
His family sends him to the Swiss town of Aarau to finish high
school.
1896
Graduates from high school at age 17 and enrolls at the ETH (the
Federal Polytechnic School) in Zurich.
1898
Falls in love with Mileva Maric, a Serbian classmate at the ETH.
1900
Graduates from the ETH.
1901
Becomes a Swiss citizen and, unemployed, searches for work. Meets
Maric in northern Italy for a tryst, and she becomes pregnant. In
the fall, he finds work in Schaffhausen, Switzerland as a tutor.
Maric, visibly pregnant, moves to Stein am Rhein, three miles
upriver. She then returns to her parents' home to give birth to her
child. Einstein moves to Bern.
1902
In January, Maric gives birth to their daughter, Lieserl, whom they
eventually put up for adoption. Lieserl reportedly becomes ill, and
then all record of her disappears. Einstein takes a job at the Swiss
Patent Office. Hermann Einstein becomes ill and dies.
1903
Marries Maric in January.
1904
Maric gives birth to their first son, Hans Albert.
1905
Publishes, at age 26, five groundbreaking papers, making this his
"annus mirabilis," or miracle year. One of the papers introduces his
special theory of relativity and another E = mc2.
1906
Continues working as an examiner at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern.
1907
Begins applying the laws of gravity to his special theory of
relativity.
1910
Son Eduard is born.
1911
Moves with his family to Prague, where he is given a full
professorship at the German University there. Attends the
invitation-only Solvay Conference in Brussels, the first world
physics conference; he is the youngest physicist there.
1912
Moves with his family to Zurich, where he becomes a professor of
theoretical physics at the ETH.
1913
Works on his new theory of gravity.
1914
Becomes director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin and
professor of theoretical physics at the University of Berlin. Maric
and the children move there in April, but they return to Zurich
after three months. Divorce proceedings begin. In August, World War
I begins.
1915
Completes the general theory of relativity.
1917
Collapses from exhaustion and falls seriously ill. Nursed back to
health by his cousin Elsa Löwenthal. Publishes his first paper
on cosmology.
1919
Marries Löwenthal. On May 29, a solar eclipse provides proof of
the general theory of relativity.
1922
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1921.
1927
Attends fifth Solvay Conference and begins developing the foundation
of quantum mechanics with Niels Bohr.
1928
Begins pursuing his idea of a unified field theory.
1932
As a Jew, begins to feel the heat of Nazi Germany. Now, at 53, at
the height of his fame.
1933
Sets sail with Löwenthal for the United States. Settles with
her in Princeton, New Jersey, where he assumes a post at the
Institute for Advanced Study.
1936
Löwenthal dies after a brief illness.
1939
Writes a famous letter to President Franklin Roosevelt not long
after the start of World War II that warns of the possibility of
Germany's building an atomic bomb and urges nuclear research.
1940
Becomes an American citizen (retains his Swiss citizenship).
1949
Ex-wife Maric dies.
1955
Dies of heart failure on April 18.
Note: This feature originally appeared, in slightly different form,
on NOVA's "Einstein Revealed" Web site, which has been subsumed into
the "Einstein's Big Idea" Web site.
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