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Nobel Prizes
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The Nobel prizes are awarded under the will of Alfred Bernhard Nobel,
Swedish chemist and engineer, who died in 1896. The interest of the fund
is divided annually among the persons who have made the most outstanding
contributions in the fields of physics, chemistry, and physiology or
medicine, who have produced the most distinguished literary work of an
idealist tendency, and who have contributed most toward world peace.
In 1968, a Nobel Prize of economic sciences was established by
Riksbank, the Swedish bank, in celebration of its 300th anniversary. The
prize was awarded for the first time in 1969.
The prizes for physics and chemistry are awarded by the Swedish Academy
of Science in Stockholm, the one for physiology or medicine by the
Caroline Medical Institute in Stockholm, that for literature by the
Academy in Stockholm, and that for peace by a committee of five elected by
the Norwegian Storting. The distribution of prizes was begun on December
10, 1901, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The amount of each prize
varies with the income from the fund and in 2007 is worth ten million
Swedish kroners, or more than one and a half million U.S. dollars. No
Nobel prizes were awarded for 1940, 1941, and 1942; prizes for literature
were not awarded for 1914, 1918, and 1943.
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