It was taken on March 14, 1951, four years before his death. The date marked the 72nd birthday of the scientist, who was then working at Princeton University, in New Jersey, in the United States. During the celebration, a photographer from the United Press International (UPI) news agency asked Einstein to smile to look good in the portrait. By ridiculing the request, frowning, widening his eyes and sticking out his tongue, he created one of the best-known images in human history and one that immediately comes to mind when we think of the creator of the Theory of Relativity and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics of 1921. Quite discreet, Einstein could not understand how he had become so popular writing books of such specific interest, difficult to understand for the vast majority of the public. But the caricature pose helped to increase his fame even more.
Ultimately, he liked the photo so much that he distributed copies to friends on special occasions, such as birthdays and Christmas Day.
Read too:
– What is the Theory of Relativity?
– Is it true that Einstein was a bad student and did not do well in mathematics?
– What is the weight of light?