This Article is From Oct 05, 2020

Nobel Prize 2020: Know Why Winners Are Called Nobel Laureates, 10 Facts

2020 Nobel Prize: Have you ever thought why the winners are called Nobel Laureates? Read on to know few interesting facts about the most prestigious award.

Nobel Prize 2020: Know Why Winners Are Called Nobel Laureates, 10 Facts

Nobel Prize Image: Since 1901, men and women have been honoured for outstanding achievements

The Nobel Prizes were first awarded on December 10, 1901. The most prestigious award ceremony was held in Stockholm and in Christiania (now Oslo) at the Old Royal Academy of Music. From 1901 to 1925, the event was held at the Royal Academy and after that since 1926, the Nobel Prize ceremony always took place at the Stockholm Concert Hall barring a few years. Today two Americans Harvey Alter and Charles Rice and a Briton Michael Houghton won the Nobel Medicine Prize for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus. 

Nobel Prize: 10 interesting facts

  1. Have you ever thought why the winners are called Nobel Laureates? Here it is - the word 'Laureate' refers to the 'laurel wreath' which is a symbol of victory and honour.  According to Greek mythology, 'laurel wreaths' were given to victors in any field.
  2. The youngest Medicine Nobel Laureate is Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin. He was 32 when he won the Nobel.
  3. Marie Curie is the only person who was awarded the Nobel in two different scientific categories - Physics and Chemistry 
  4. Between 1901 and 2019, women have won the Nobel Prize 54 times
  5. Jean-Paul Sartre who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964 had refused. He had declined all official honours.
  6. Le Duc Tho had declined the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Along with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger he was awarded the Nobel for negotiating the Vietnam peace accord. Le Duc Tho refused citing the Vietnam situation.
  7. There are six 'Nobel' couples so far: Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, Irene Joliot-Curie and Frederic Joliot, Gerty Cori and Carl Cori, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser, Alva Myrdal and Gunnar Myrdal, and Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee.
  8. Malala Yousafzai is the youngest to win the Nobel. She was only 17 when she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
  9. John B. Goodenough is the oldest person to win the Nobel. He won the Prize for Chemistry in 2019 at the age of 97.
  10. Since 1901, Nobel Prizes have not been awarded 49 times. These were mostly during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945).

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