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Are U know about Alfred Bernhard Nobel?
Posted By:Mohamedris On 11/1/2005

 

FIRST NOBEL PRIZES:
December 10, 1901


The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields
of Physics, Chemistry, Cedicine, Literature, and Peace. The ceremony
came on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the
Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. In his will,
Nobel directed that the bulk of his vast fortune be placed in a fund
in which the interest would be "annually distributed in the form of
prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred
the greatest benefit on mankind." Although Nobel offered no public
reason for his creation of the prizes, it is widely believed that he
did so out of moral regret over the increasingly lethal uses of his
inventions in war.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833, and four years
later his family moved to Russia. His father ran a successful St.
Petersburg factory that built explosive mines and other military
equipment. Educated in Russia, Paris, and the United States, Alfred
Nobel proved a brilliant chemist. When his father's business faltered
after the end of the Crimean War, Nobel returned to Sweden and set up
a laboratory to experiment with explosives. In 1863, he invented a way
to control the detonation of nitroglycerin, a highly volatile liquid
that had been recently discovered but was previously regarded as too
dangerous for use. Two years later, Nobel invented the blasting cap,
an improved detonator that inaugurated the modern use of high
explosives. Previously, the most dependable explosive was black
powder, a form of gunpowder.

Nitroglycerin remained dangerous, however, and in 1864 Nobel's
nitroglycerin factory blew up, killing his younger brother and several
other people. Searching for a safer explosive, Nobel discovered in
1867 that the combination of nitroglycerin and a porous substance
called kieselguhr produced a highly explosive mixture that was much
safer to handle and use. Nobel christened his invention "dynamite,"
for the Greek word dynamis, meaning "power." Securing patents on
dynamite, Nobel acquired a fortune as humanity put his invention to
use in construction and warfare.

In 1875, Nobel created a more powerful form of dynamite, blasting
gelatin, and in 1887 introduced ballistite, a smokeless nitroglycerin
powder. Around that time, one of Nobel's brothers died in France, and
French newspapers printed obituaries in which they mistook him for
Alfred. One headline read, "The merchant of death is dead." Alfred
Nobel in fact had pacifist tendencies and in his later years
apparently developed strong misgivings about the impact of his
inventions on the world. After he died in San Remo, Italy, on December
10, 1896, the majority of his estate went toward the creation of
prizes to be given annually in the fields of physics, chemistry,
medicine, literature, and peace. The portion of his will establishing
the Nobel Peace Prize read, "[one award shall be given] to the person
who has done the most or best work for fraternity among nations, for
the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and
promotion of peace congresses." Exactly five years after his death,
the first Nobel awards were presented.

Today, the Nobel Prizes are regarded as the most prestigious awards in
the world in their various fields. Notable winners have included Marie
Curie, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw,
Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King, Jr., the
Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Nelson Mandela. Multiple leaders
and organizations sometimes receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and
multiple researchers often share the scientific awards for their joint
discoveries. In 1968, a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was
established by the Swedish national bank, Sveriges Riksbank, and first
awarded in 1969.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decides the prizes in physics,
chemistry, and economic science; the Swedish Royal Caroline
Medico-Surgical Institute determines the physiology or medicine award;
the Swedish Academy chooses literature; and a committee elected by the
Norwegian parliament awards the peace prize. The Nobel Prizes are
still presented annually on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's
death. In 2000, each Nobel Prize carried a cash prize of $940,000 and
recipients also received a gold medal, as is the tradition.

 

Source: www.historychannel.com 

    This site useful for find about the World historys and more.... 




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