Fun Facts About Niels Bohr
- Niels Bohr passed out during his wartime escape flight to Britain. His flying helmet was too small to wear, so he did not hear the order to turn on his oxygen.[1]
- Bohr was a football goalkeeper for Akademisk Boldklub. When he became a professor, King Christian X said he was delighted to meet such a famous football player.[1]
- To hide two colleagues' gold Nobel medals from the Germans, Bohr had George de Hevesy dissolve them in aqua regia.[1]
- After fleeing to Sweden in 1943, Bohr persuaded King Gustaf V to announce that Sweden would shelter Jewish refugees. Historians debate how much this helped over 7,000 Danish Jews escape there.[1]
- For security reasons, Bohr went by the name "Nicholas Baker" in the United States, while his son Aage became "James Baker".[1]
- Bohr designed his own coat of arms with a yin and yang symbol and the Latin motto "contraria sunt complementa", meaning "opposites are complementary".[1]
- Niels Bohr was alive at the same time as Barack Obama — their lives overlapped for 1 year (1961–1962).[1][2][3][4]
- Niels Bohr shares a birthday with Vladimir Putin: both were born on October 7.[1][2][5][6]
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. He was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research.[1]
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Questions About Niels Bohr
When was Niels Bohr born?
Niels Bohr was born on October 7, 1885, and died on November 18, 1962.
How old was Niels Bohr at death?
Niels Bohr was born on October 7, 1885, and died on November 18, 1962, at age 77.
What was Niels Bohr known for?
Niels Bohr was known for: Atomic model, quantum mechanics pioneer. Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. He was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research.
Who was alive at the same time as Niels Bohr?
Niels Bohr's closest contemporary was Winston Churchill. Their lives overlapped for 77 years.
Sources
- Niels Bohr — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Niels Bohr (Q7085) — Wikidata
- Barack Obama — Wikipedia
- Barack Obama (Q76) — Wikidata
- Vladimir Putin — Wikipedia
- Vladimir Putin (Q7747) — Wikidata
- Portrait: Niels Bohr.jpg — Wikimedia Commons. The American Institute of Physics credits the photo [1] to AB Lagrelius & Westphal, which is the Swedish company used by the Nobel Foundation for most photos of its book series Les Prix Nobel., Public domain