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American History

40 of the Most Influential People of All Time

Marie Curie - Pierre Curie

2. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921. Ferdinand Schmutzer/ NHM/ Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain.

Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist who emigrated to the United States and remained there after Hitler rose to power in his native Germany. He discovered general relativity, then supplemented it with special relativity to fill in some of the gaps. Einstein also studied things like the photoelectric effect, which helped form the basis for quantum physics. During World War II, he was recruited for the Manhattan Project so that he could help develop the technology for the atomic bomb.

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