1879    Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Germany.

1900    Einstein graduates from the Swiss Polytechnic University in Zurich, Switzerland.

1902    Einstein takes a job as a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office.

1905    Albert Einstein reveals his Theory of Relativity (special relativity).

1905    Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity.

1905    The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².

1905    Albert Einstein's paper, ''Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?'', is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula ''E'' = ''mc''².

1916    Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1919    Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested (later confirmed) by Arthur Eddington's observation of a total solar eclipse in Principe and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil.

1921    Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with the photoelectric effect.

1930    Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.

1932    German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.

1933    Albert Einstein, fleeing Nazi Germany, moves to the U.S..

1939    Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan project to develop a nuclear weapon.