December 10:

1901 : First Nobel Prizes awarded
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine,
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
2006, each Nobel Prize carried a cash prize of nearly
$1,400,000 and recipients also received a gold medal,
as is the tradition.

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