Current Affairs MCQs – Page 51 (Q501-510)

Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist, engineer and inventor of dynamite, established the Nobel Prizes through his 1895 will, directing that the bulk of his vast fortune be used to fund annual awards recognizing outstanding achievements benefiting humanity. He reportedly took this step in part to counter a premature obituary that had labeled him a merchant of death due to his explosives business. John Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie are tempting distractors, as each was another famous industrialist known for major philanthropic giving, but none founded the Nobel Prizes. The prizes have since become widely regarded as the most prestigious awards in their respective fields.

The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, five years after Alfred Nobel's death in 1896, once his estate had been settled and the Nobel Foundation established to administer the awards. The inaugural ceremony honored laureates in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. 1895, 1905 and 1910 are tempting distractors, with 1895 actually corresponding to the year Nobel wrote his founding will, six years before the first prizes were actually given out. The Nobel Prizes have been awarded almost every year since, with only a handful of interruptions during the World Wars.

Five Nobel Prize categories were originally established in 1901: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace, as specified in Alfred Nobel's 1895 will. These five categories remained the only Nobel Prizes for nearly seven decades. Six, four and seven are tempting distractors, with six corresponding to the eventual total after economics was later added as a sixth prize. The Peace Prize has always been distinct from the others in that it is awarded in Oslo, Norway, rather than Stockholm, Sweden, following a specific instruction in Nobel's will.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was first added in 1969, established by Sweden's central bank in memory of Alfred Nobel, making it technically a separate award administered alongside, though not originally part of, the traditional five Nobel Prizes. It is formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. 1975, 1955 and 1980 are tempting distractors that do not correspond to the actual year the economics prize was introduced. Some critics have argued the economics prize should not be considered a true Nobel Prize since it was not established in Nobel's original will.

The Nobel Peace Prize is traditionally awarded in Oslo, Norway, unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, a distinction specified by Alfred Nobel himself in his original 1895 will. The reasons behind Nobel's choice of Norway for the Peace Prize remain somewhat debated by historians, though Norway and Sweden were still politically united at the time his will was written. Stockholm, Geneva and Copenhagen are tempting distractors, with Stockholm hosting all the other Nobel Prize ceremonies instead. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, rather than a Swedish institution.

Most Nobel Prizes, other than the Peace Prize, are traditionally awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, Alfred Nobel's home country, in a grand ceremony held annually on December 10, the anniversary of his death. The Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences are all awarded there. Helsinki, Bern and Oslo are tempting distractors, with Oslo specifically hosting the separate Peace Prize ceremony instead. The Stockholm ceremony is followed by a lavish banquet at Stockholm City Hall, attended by the King of Sweden and other dignitaries.

Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani education activist, became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate when she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at just 17 years old, sharing the honor with Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. She had survived a targeted assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' right to education. Greta Thunberg, Tawakkol Karman and Kailash Satyarthi are tempting distractors, with Satyarthi being her actual co-recipient that year and Thunberg and Karman being other prominent activists honored in different contexts. Malala later founded the Malala Fund to continue advocating for girls' education worldwide.

Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, sharing the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and physicist Henri Becquerel for their pioneering research on radioactivity. She later won a second Nobel Prize, in Chemistry in 1911, becoming the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. Dorothy Hodgkin, Rosalind Franklin and Irene Joliot-Curie are tempting distractors, with Irene Joliot-Curie being Marie Curie's own daughter, who later won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry herself in 1935. Marie Curie remains one of the most celebrated scientists in history despite facing significant gender-based discrimination during her career.

Marie Curie remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields, earning the Physics Prize in 1903 for her work on radioactivity and the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for discovering the elements radium and polonium. Only a small handful of individuals in history have won two Nobel Prizes at all, making her achievement especially rare. Linus Pauling, John Bardeen and Frederick Sanger are tempting distractors, with Pauling actually winning Chemistry and Peace prizes and Bardeen and Sanger each winning twice within the same single field. Curie's dual achievement remains unmatched more than a century after her second prize.

The Nobel Prize award ceremony is traditionally held each year on December 10, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896, a date chosen to honor his memory and legacy. Nobel laureates receive their medals, diplomas and cash prizes at simultaneous ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway, for the Peace Prize. January 10, October 10 and November 10 are tempting distractors that do not correspond to the actual anniversary date. The Nobel Foundation carefully preserves this tradition, treating December 10 as the central date of the entire Nobel Prize calendar each year.