We’ve all heard of Albert Einstein's mathematical formulas and scientific theorems, but few of us can actually explain what any of them mean. It only takes a quick review of some facts about Albert Einstein to discover that he was a true eccentric genius.
He Had An Abnormally Large Head And An Abnormally Shaped Brain
Albert Einstein’s head was unique the moment he was born, and it had nothing to do with intelligence. At birth, Einstein came out a bit misshapen, with a head far too large for his body and with an abnormal shape, to boot. His mother was concerned, but young Albert grew out of it within a matter of weeks. After his death several decades later, an autopsy revealed that his brain itself was also abnormally shaped. Although smaller than average, Einstein’s brain had some oversized areas related to mathematics and reasoning.
He Ate Grasshoppers To Gross Out His Friends
Throughout his long and brilliant life, Albert Einstein showed a few issues with impulse control. For a man who was so in tune with the nature of the universe and the consequences of human action, Einstein was very prone to making rash decisions. For example, Einstein was known to do things like randomly pick grasshoppers up off the ground and eat them just to freak out his friends.
He Smoked Cigarette Butts He Picked Off The Street
Many of Einstein’s eccentricities are of the sort expected from a genius-type. Others are of the sort expected from a shifty hobo. Picking cigarette butts up off the street and smoking them definitely falls into the latter category, but that’s apparently something that Albert Einstein actually did. He was a lifelong smoker and often spoke of the calming effects of tobacco. After the elderly scientist’s doctors had forced him to quit smoking, Einstein resorted to smoking stubs wherever he found them, even in front of his grandson, who recounted this “humorous” anecdote years later.
He Didn’t Wear Socks And Bragged About It
Something that Albert Einstein carried with him for his entire life was a disdain for socks. For whatever reason, he just hated having his feet covered in fabric. Whenever possible, Einstein would eschew wearing them, preferring to stuff his sweaty feet into any other sort of footwear that was available. This wasn’t simply due to comfort, either, as Einstein clearly knew he was avoiding a social norm by not wearing them. Later in life, he often bragged to friends about how he kept “getting away” without wearing socks, despite working in some respected and cultured institutions.
He Couldn’t Speak Until Age Four
Einstein said some incredibly wise things during his life, and perhaps that eloquence was him making up for lost time. In what seems like a strange origin story, young Albert did not learn to speak until the age of four, which would normally be a sign of some serious developmental deficiencies. He still showed himself to be intelligent through other means, but he couldn’t actually form words until he was nearly ready to enter school. This bizarre occurrence, which is rare but happens occasionally in highly-intelligent children, has been dubbed Einstein Syndrome in his honor.
He Enjoyed Crying And Playing The Violin While Birdwatching
It has been said that, if not for a busy career in being the smartest man on the planet, Albert Einstein could have been a perfectly competent concert violinist. He began playing the instrument at the tender age of five and played it well from the beginning. He maintained a lifelong affinity for plucking strings, and he would bust out his violin whenever possible. Later in life, one of his favorite activities was walking around and playing it while watching birds. The combined beauty of music and nature often moved him to tears.
He Married His Cousin
Albert Einstein had two marriages in his life. His first was to Mileva Maric, and it lasted for 16 years and produced two children. However, the marriage was strained, and Einstein did not treat his wife well. He eventually left her, too, to marry his own cousin, Elsa Lowenthal. Cousin-marrying wasn’t as much of a social taboo back then as it is now, but one still has to think that Einstein, being a famous scientist, had options outside of his family tree. His marriage with Elsa also dissolved in 1936.
He Had Ridiculous Rules For His Wives
Mileva Maric was Albert Einstein's first wife, and that wasn’t exactly a lucky break for her. Einstein’s treatment of his spouses could be downright cruel, with him often having open and obvious affairs with little regard for the feelings of his current wife. While his marriage with Maric was falling apart, Einstein tried to rectify the situation by giving her a bizarre list of “rules” that could save their marriage. These included the expectation that Maric would do all of the household chores but should not expect her husband to interact with her in any way outside of “social necessities.” It's a wonder things didn’t work out.
He Promised His Wife Nobel Prize Money In Divorce - Before He Had Even Won The Award
While negotiating his divorce proceedings with Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein showed a particular kind of cockiness that is only possible from the most brilliant of individuals. He understood his role in the disintegration of their marriage and truly sought to properly financially compensate his soon-to-be former spouse. This involved him promising her future earnings, including his prize money from winning the Nobel Prize. Einstein hadn’t actually won the prize yet, but he was sure enough of himself to include it in the official divorce filings. Of course, he did eventually win one, and Maric got the money.
He Had Really Poor Personal Hygiene
Albert Einstein is famous for his wild and unruly hair, but that was only the beginning of his hygienic woes. Those close to the eccentric genius found themselves worried about the condition that he kept himself in. He didn’t clean himself regularly and often got so consumed in his work that he began to smell horribly. Close friends would have to practically drag him into a shower so that he would be publicly presentable, but Einstein himself never saw the need.
He Became A Sailor But Never Learned To Swim
Not all of Albert Einstein’s habits were totally weird - at least on the surface. Einstein eventually picked up a love of sailing, and took to the sea whenever he could find time. The thrill of operating a boat is an understandable hobby for a man so obsessed with the laws of physics, but Einstein actually put himself at risk every time he set sail. Despite spending so much time on the water, Einstein went his entire life without learning how to swim.
His Eyes Inspired Yoda And E.T.
Those who only know Einstein from that picture of him sticking his tongue out will still be familiar with his most famous features: namely, his wild hair, cool mustache, and crazy eyes. It was the last item that ended up inspiring two of pop culture’s most enduring fictional aliens. The designs of both Yoda, from Star Wars, and E.T. were said to contain large, expressive eyes based partially on those of Einstein. This is actually quite fitting, since Einstein was as wise as Yoda but as weird as E.T.
He Died After Refusing An Operation For Internal Bleeding
Albert Einstein’s weirdness was eventually the end of him. Towards the end of his life, Einstein became convinced that he had lived a good life and should go whenever his time came, and he started to think ill of medical intervention as a result. It seems so odd for a man that discovered the relationship between space and time to be so convinced of a “right moment” to die, but he stuck to his guns. When he suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm in 1955, he refused surgery to repair the internal bleeding. He said “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.”
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