Correct Answer : 10th December
Nobel Prize Day falls on December 10 every year. It honors the achievements of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish engineer, chemist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
We have all heard of the Nobel Prize that recognizes outstanding achievements in various fields in the arts and sciences. Nobel Prize Day is a tribute to the person who instituted the prize.
Nobel Prize Day History : Alfred Nobel was born to impoverished parents in Stockholm, but his father was a descendant of a very highly regarded Swedish scientist and writer, Olaus, or Olof, Rudbeck.
His father was an engineer himself and Alfred Nobel expressed early interest in engineering, and explosives in particular. This of course bore results, with Nobel becoming interested in stabilizing the unpredictable explosive, nitroglycerin, as early as his teenage years.
Despite one of his brothers dying in a tragic accident involving this pursuit, Nobel continued with his work, shifting the factory base to a more isolated area, and ultimately succeeding in inventing dynamite as a superior and more stable version of nitroglycerin.
Alfred Nobel went on to invent an even better alternative to dynamite in the form of gelignite. This became a staple in mining operations and made Nobel financially successful.
Nobel also invented weaponry for military purposes and started companies to sell these. When a French newspaper carried a false obituary of Nobel, criticizing him for his role in warfare, he re-evaluated his life’s goals and decided to use his earnings to set up a prize that recognized the best in humanity.
The prizes in the different categories reflect his own interests in various fields. Apart from being an entrepreneurial engineer, he was also a writer.
While Nobel is still criticized for the role he played in furthering military technology, the Nobel Prizes, including the Prize for economics, which was added later, are considered the most prestigious achievement for practitioners in those fields..
Source : National Today
