A century ago, on May 29, 1919, the universe was momentarily perturbed, and Albert Einstein became famous. Einstein himself apparently had no special plans for what he knew could be a momentous day. In Sobral, Brazil, and on Príncipe Island, off the western coast of Africa, two teams were viewing a total solar eclipse; in measuring the deflection of starlight by the sun’s gravitational field, they proved Einstein right. (“Men of Science More or Less Agog Over Results of Eclipse Observations,” one headline in The Times noted.) Einstein bought himself a congratulatory violin.

Source: New York Times May 28, 2019 21:27 UTC