School: Despite his later fame as a genius, Einstein was a poor student as a boy, and some of his teachers thought he might be retarded! He didn't really speak till he was 4. But he wrote his first scientific paper at 16.
Family: The Einsteins had moved to Munich in 1880 for work. His father and Uncle Jakob founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J Einstein & Cie, a company that made electrical equipment based on direct currents.
Compass: Einstein traced his interest in science to receiving a compass when he was 5. He wondered what forces made it work.
University: Einstein went to the Zurich and qualified with a degree in Maths and Physics but was unable to find work as a teacher.
Work: He took a job working in a Swiss patent office, which gave him free time for his own work. He thought people were wrong about gravity and wanted to prove it. His theories were proved right in 1919.
Prizes: Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
Early fame: Einstein became very famous. He visited New York for the first time in 1921, where he received an official welcome by the Mayor, and was taken to many receptions and events, including a performance of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, where he was cheered by the audience on his arrival. He gave lectures at Princeton and Columbia Universities, and the president of Columbia described Einstein as "the ruling monarch of the mind". He was even invited to the White House.
The Nazis: After the Nazis came to power in 1933 in Germany, they burned Einstein's works and planned to kill him. Einstein knew he had to leave and went to the US, where he lived for the rest of his life, becoming an American citizen, and became a professor at Princeton University.