The founder of the Red Cross won the first Nobel Peace Prize while living in a care home.

1863 · 1901 · apart: 38 years

Henry Dunant went bankrupt in 1867 and lived in obscurity for decades until a journalist found him in Heiden, Switzerland.

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The event

• First Nobel Prizes1901 · Stockholm. On 10 December 1901, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace were awarded for the first time under his will. The Nobel Prize became the most prestigious award in science and culture.

19th century · 20th century

More amazing facts

• 1861 Alexander II signed the manifesto freeing the serfs on 3 March 1861 (19 February Old Style); the very next day Lincoln became US president.
• 1861 1861: Russia abolished serfdom, and a united Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in Turin.
• 1861 · 1888 Russia abolished serfdom in 1861 and the USA slavery in 1865; Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, only in 1888.
• 1863 · 1865 Slaves in Texas learned they were free 900 days late: Lincoln's proclamation took effect on 1 January 1863, but it was announced in Galveston only on 19 June 1865, now celebrated as Juneteenth.
• 1864 In 1864 Spain seized Peru's bird-dropping islands.
• 1864 Olivier salad was invented in the 1860s by Lucien Olivier, a chef of French and Belgian origin at Moscow's Hermitage restaurant.

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