Alfred Nobel read his own obituary eight years before he died.

1888 · 1896 · 1901 · apart: 13 years

When his brother Ludvig died in 1888, a French paper wrote him off instead; by a popular account, this pushed him to leave his fortune to the prizes.

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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

• 1887 · 1888 The pneumatic tyre was invented by a vet for his son's tricycle.
• 1887 Queen Victoria went to Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
• 1888 · 1997 A woman who met Van Gogh lived into the internet age. Jeanne Calment recalled the painter visiting her uncle's shop in Arles in 1888; she died in 1997 aged 122, the longest confirmed human life.
• 1888 · 1890 Around 1890 nearly 20 tonnes of mummified cats were shipped to England as fertiliser.
• 1889 The Eiffel Tower opened in spring 1889, and in June van Gogh painted The Starry Night at the Saint-Rémy asylum.
• 1889 Nintendo is as old as the Eiffel Tower: it was founded in Kyoto on 23 September 1889 to make hanafuda playing cards, the same year the tower opened.

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