So far, the Nobel Prize has gone through more than a hundred years. In terms of annual intense competition, massive winners have left some spectacular “the most” in the history of the Nobel Prize.
The Most Coincidental Winner
October 10, 2007, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced; the German scientist Gerhard Ertl received the prize because of his outstanding contributions to the field of surface chemistry. Coincidentally, that day happened to be Ertl’s 71-year-old birthday. In occasion of the birthday, he could get so glorious prize, Ertl was very happy. He said it was the best birthday present that anyone could image; it could only happen once during the lifetime.
The Most Unexpected Winner
Compared with physics, chemistry and other highly specialized awards, the Peace Prize can raise the public’s attention to a larger degree, but sometimes some unexpected winners might appear. In October 2006, many expected winners fell by the wayside while the Grameen Bank and its founder Muhammad Yunus was awarded. This result was far beyond the forecast of many media. As is known, according to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the one who has contributed to promoting the unity and friendship between nations. But in 2006, the winner of Peace Prize was from a rarely involved realm-the banking industry.
The Most Unique Winner
Due to health reasons, the winner of 2005’s Nobel Prize in Literature Harold Pinter (a British playwriter) did not personally go to Sweden to accept the award, but he pre-recorded his speech. However, outstanding and unique Pinter did not mention literature in his speech but rather focused on talking about political issues. He strongly condemned the American President George W. Bush and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair that time, saying they should be prosecuted because of the invasion of Iraq.
The Youngest Winner
So far, the youngest Nobel winner is Lawrence Bragg. In 1915, he received the Physics Prize because of his research on the X-ray’s crystal structure. He was only 25 years old when he was awarded. And he shared the award with his father.
The Nobel Prize might be the dream of most scholars, whether in literature, chemistry or other researching fields. However, the most important element is that they should try to keep up this special dream for ever!