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Today in History: The Nobel Prize

by Alexa on December 10, 2009

VV1848

Marie Curie, Nobel winner 1903 and 1911

Today, in 1901, the first Nobel prizes were awarded. Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, created the prizes in his will. The prizes were initially awarded in five categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology & Medicine, Literature, and Peace. In 1968, a new Nobel prize was established in the discipline of Economics. Today, the 2009 winners will accept their prizes in Stockholm and Oslo.

The nomination and voting process is both complex and guarded with the utmost secrecy—they seal the nomination records for 50 years! The prizes are considered the highest achievement possible in each of their respective fields. The first American to win a Nobel Prize was President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt who won the Peace Prize in 1906. Since then, three other US Presidents have won it: Woodrow Wilson in 1919, Jimmy Carter in 2002, and Barack Obama this year. Al Gore, who won it in 2007, is the only US Vice President to have won the prize.

Marie Curie was the first woman a Noble, winning two—Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. She’s the only woman to have won the prize twice. In 2009, five women won Nobel prize, the most of any year. Herta Muller for Literature, Elinor Ostrom for Economics, Ada E. Yonath for Chemistry, and Carol W. Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn shared the prize for Physiology & Medicine.

Learn more about  the Nobel Prizes.

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Tagged as: Female Scientists, history, honors, the Nobel Prizes, Today in History

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