2. He was born in Ulm, Germany, and later moved to Switzerland due to his family’s secular views in a predominantly Catholic area.

3. Einstein is best known for his mass-energy equivalence principle, encapsulated in the famous equation E=mc², which states that energy (E) is equal to mass (m) times the speed of light (c) squared.

4. His theory of relativity, published in 1915, fundamentally changed our understanding of space, time, and gravity. It introduced concepts like time dilation and length contraction.

5. Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon where light shining on a metal surface ejects electrons. This was his “miracle year” (1905), in which he also published four papers revolutionizing physics.

6. Despite his brilliance, Einstein had a difficult time in school, particularly with speech, and didn’t learn to read until he was seven.

7. He was a passionate pacifist and humanitarian. After retiring from academia, he dedicated much of his life to efforts for world peace and Jewish causes.

8. Einstein was timeless in his thinking; he refused to own a television, stating it was a “useless toy” that would distract from important activities like reading and thinking.

9. His iconic hairstyle – wild and unkempt – was not a deliberate fashion statement but rather a byproduct of his habit of forgetting to cut his hair.