Nobel Prize Day

What the day is

Nobel Prize Day is observed on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel in 1896. It is the day on which the Nobel Prizes are formally presented each year, in a ceremony in Stockholm for the prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature, and in a separate ceremony in Oslo for the Peace Prize.

The prizes themselves are announced earlier, in October, so the December ceremony is when the laureates receive their gold medal, diploma and prize money.

Origin and background

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer and businessman who invented dynamite in 1867 and held hundreds of patents. He signed his last will on November 27, 1895, in Paris, leaving most of his large fortune to set up annual prizes for those who had conferred the greatest benefit on humankind. The will caused controversy at the time. His family challenged it, and the institutions he named as prize awarders had to be persuaded to accept the task. It took five years to sort out, and the first prizes were awarded in 1901.

The original prizes were for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. A sixth, the Prize in Economic Sciences, was added in 1968, funded by the Swedish central bank in memory of Nobel, and it is not one of the original five. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, in line with Nobel's instructions, while the others are presented in Stockholm.

The prizes remain among the best known honors in the world, and they have also drawn criticism over omissions, over how few women have won, and over decisions that look different decades later.

How to take part

• Look up the year's laureates and read what each one is recognized for.
• Watch the ceremony, which is streamed online each year.
• Read a book by a literature laureate you have not tried.
• Explain to a child what the winning discovery does in plain language, which is a good test of your own understanding.
• Visit the Nobel Prize website, which publishes lectures and biographies for every laureate.