The Nobel Peace Prize is sometimes awarded to inspire ideals, not honor achievements

Being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize is easy—winning one is not

Hundreds of people are nominated yearly, including controversial figures like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, since nominations can come from professors or politicians worldwide. Le Duc Tho refused the 1973 prize jointly awarded to him and Henry Kissinger, citing ongoing conflict in Vietnam.

The Nobel Prizes honor global achievements in science, literature, and peace efforts

Established by Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Prizes have been awarded since 1901 to individuals and organizations making major contributions to humanity. Although often grouped with the five original prizes, the economics award was added later by Sweden’s central bank in 1968 and isn't technically a Nobel Prize.

The Nobel Prize committee was not enthusiastic about selecting John Steinbeck, whom they considered past his prime.

Each Nobel committee sends nomination requests to 3,000 leading academics annually

Each Nobel selection committee consults with experts to create a shortlist of finalists from the hundreds of nominations, which is then sent to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The literature and peace awards also involve nominations from "qualified persons," such as university professors.

Jean-Paul Sartre rejected his Nobel Prize for literature

Sartre won the award in 1964, but refused it, explaining, "The writer must therefore refuse to let himself be transformed into an institution, even if this occurs under the most honorable circumstances, as in the present case."

Watch writer John Steinbeck's Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Some Nobel laureates have expressed beliefs in pseudoscience after winning

Examples of the phenomenon, known as Nobelitis or Nobel disease, include promoting psychic research, harmful practices like eugenics, and seeing talking raccoons. Increased external pressures after a win and a greater spotlight may contribute to developing or exposing these beliefs.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1964

At the age of 35, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent leadership in the Civil Rights movement, making him the youngest recipient at the time.

Only allowing three recipients causes the Nobel Prize to overlook team discoveries

While science has grown more inclusive and collaborative, the Nobel Prize system still struggles with outdated practices, such as secrecy and a rigid limit on awardees. This restriction sidelines many deserving scientists, especially in complex projects like the human genome or gravitational waves.

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and later used his fortune to fund peace prizes

Nobel stabilized dangerous nitroglycerin to create dynamite, revolutionizing construction and mining in the 19th century. Despite his success with explosives, he was deeply disturbed by their destructive potential and redirected his legacy toward rewarding human progress.

Despite the rules, a Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded posthumously

Ralph Steinman, whose work revealed how dendritic cells activate immune responses, passed away just days before being named a Nobel laureate. Although Nobel Prizes cannot be awarded posthumously, the committee made an exception because they believed he was alive at the time of the decision.

Sometimes, an award isn't given for a category

When the Pulitzers decided not to issue a 2021 award for Editorial Cartooning, it was surprising, but not unheard of. In fact, the same happened in 2012, when the Pulitzer board ignored the jury’s recommendations for the fiction prize.

Experience games that explore Nobel Prize-winning work

Inspired by the educators who set laureates on their path, the Nobel Foundation has created a library of interactive activities for the general public. These allow users to make groundbreaking discoveries, showing that such work is accessible to all.

Some allege that Dylan plagiarized his Nobel Prize lecture

The speech bore striking similarities to entries on SparkNotes, a summary site that's often used by students looking to skip assigned reading. Neither Dylan nor his management commented on the matter, though some critics suggested it was just another part of Dylan's career-long performance.

Critics believe Grammy expert panels primarily benefit legacy artists

When the expert review panels for the Big Four awards were disbanded, it was with the hope that the decision would lead to a broader range of nominees and winners. But, in practice, it's not clear that it's playing out that way.

In 2011, President Obama awarded Warren Buffett the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Buffett was awarded the medal for his success as an investor and commitment to philanthropy alongside author Maya Angelou, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Congressman John Lewis, among others. It’s perhaps the highest honor a civilian can receive.

Why don’t we negotiate with terrorists?

Politicians in the US and the UK regularly refuse to negotiate with terrorists. Some claim that negotiating with terrorists would be inappropriate and impractical, and might encourage and legitimize terrorists around the world. But, other Western governments—including France and Spain—have negotiated with terrorist groups. So why do some governments refuse to negotiate with terrorists, while others consider it effective? This article by Chatham House breaks down the history, strategies, and arguments around negotiating with terrorists.

Who gets thanked the most in Oscar speeches?

This resource analyzes nearly 2,000 Oscar acceptance speeches. It shows the average number of words spoken, the themes discussed, and how these trends have changed over the years. Scroll through the results and see if Harvey Weinstein was thanked more often than God in past years.

David Attenborough received the 2021 Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award

The UN's highest environmental honor celebrated Attenborough as "one of the leading voices of the global environmental movement." For at least four decades, he collaborated with the UN Environment Programme by advocating for "efforts to counter the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution" and addressing "world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference" in 2021.

On the role of 'Citizenship In A Republic'

After finishing a Smithsonian-sponsored expedition to East Africa, US President Theodore Roosevelt stopped by Paris and gave a speech about the responsibilities an ordinary citizen has to their republic. Citizens must know there is no effort without error, knowing they "fail while daring greatly" in pursuit of a truly democratic republic. This podcast series on powerful speeches across history is written and narrated by historian and author Jon Meacham.

Presidents from both parties have resisted the authority of the War Powers Act

Presidents from both parties have treated the War Powers Resolution as voluntary, framing compliance as seeking "support" rather than "permission." Courts have declined to rule on the law's constitutionality each time a related case was brought before them.

Norman Rockwell had a 21st-century resurgence

For decades, he was written off by the art world as a simplistic commercial artist, but critics began to reconsider Rockwell's work many years after his death. Arguably, the height of that resurgence came in 2011, when President Barack Obama hung "The Problem We All Live With" (on loan from the Norman Rockwell Museum) in the White House to mark the 50th anniversary of Ruby Bridges' desegregation walk.

NASA's 1997 Mars rover was named in Truth's honor

In 1997, NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission landed on the red planet. Its rover was named Sojourner in Truth's honor—a name selected by a 12-year-old student in a nationwide essay contest about a historical hero.

'Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.'

- Pope Francis (1936 - 2025)

Unpacking Eurovision's inevitable political commentaries

According to the European Broadcasting Union's rules for Eurovision, politicizing the contest is prohibited. Richard Wennberg explores how wars in Europe and elsewhere have complicated the song contest's unitarian goals.

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace