Two of Rutherford's brothers drowned in 1886

He was knighted in 1914

He was denied permission to teach each time he applied for a job.
The element 'rutherfordium' was named in his honor
He was born with an umbilical hernia which was left untreated for a while causing him to die.
On his birth certificate, his named was misspelled, so technically his real name is "Earnest"
Rutherford
Fun fact #1: Niels played soccer and was on the college team (He was not as good as his
brother who played Denmark and won silver in the 1908 Olympics.)
Fun Fact #2: Niels and Margethe's son, Aage, followed in his fathers footstepsin physics. Aage
also won the Nobel Peace Prize (like Niels) in 1975.
Fun Fact #3: Niels Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics was sponsored by Carlsberg Brewery
(Famous Danish Brewery)
Fun Fact #4: During WWII, Bohr offered a place for Jewish Scientists to live and work.
Fun Fact #5: Not only did Bohr make major contributions to theoretical physics, he was also a
wonderful administrator.
Fun Fact #6: During the debate about Quantum Theory with Albert Einstein, Einstein said "God
does not play dice." Bohr replied by saying "Einstein, stop telling God what to do!"
What was Madame Curie's maiden name?
Maria Sklodowska. Maria Sklodowska was born in Poland, the fifth child of Bronislawa and
Vladislav Sklodowska. She was called "Manya" by her family.
How did Marie Curie finance her university education?
she supported her sister, then her sister returned the favour. She worked as a governess,
supporting her sister Bronya. During this time Marie read widely to determine which subject
interested her most.
For which subjects did Marie Curie receive degrees?
Physics and Mathematics. In fact, she even graduated top of her class.
How did Madame Curie meet her future husband Pierre?
she was looking for some lab space and someone suggested Pierre Curie might be able to help
her. They married in 1895, their honeymoon trip was a bicycle tour across France.
Marie and Pierre Curie's daughter, Irne, was born in 1897. What was her profession?
Physicist. Not only was Irne Joliot-Curie also physicist, she also received a Nobel Prize in 1935
(together with her husband) for her work on the synthesis of radioactive substances.
Name one of the elements Marie Curie discovered.

polonium & radium. Polonium was named after Poland, Madame Curie's native country.
Which is the odd one out with regard to the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics?
Albert Einstein. Einstein received his Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. The other three shared the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by
their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel."
Marie Curie spent a lot of time and effort to extract the radioactive elements contained in a ton
of pitchblende, which was donated by the government of what country?
Austria. Pitchblende was a waste product of the mining industry. It contains small amounts of
radioactive substances.
In which years did Madame Curie receive her Nobel Prizes?
1903 and 1911. At first Marie Curie was not even nominated for the 1903 physics prize, but after
Pierre complained to the Academy they rectified the error and included her with Henri Becquerel
and her husband. She received the 1911 chemistry prize on her own.
Marie Curie died on 4th July 1934. What caused her death?
leukemia, caused by the accumulation of radiation. At the time of her death leukemia was
unheard of, her doctors diagnosed: "The disease was an aplastic pernicious anemia of rapid,
feverish development, the bone marrow did not react, probably because it had been injured by a
long accumulation of radiations." [http://www.aip.org/history/curie/radinst3.htm]