Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879, to a secular Jewish family. His father, Hermann, was an engineer and salesman, and his mother, Pauline, was a homemaker. A year after his birth, the family moved to Munich, where Albert's sister, Maja, was born.

Young Albert was a quiet child. He was slow to speak, which initially caused his parents some concern. But his quiet nature hid a deep curiosity. A pivotal moment came when he was about five years old and sick in bed. His father showed him a simple pocket compass.

The boy was mesmerized. No matter which way he turned the compass, the needle pointed north. He realized some unseen force in the empty space was acting on it. This encounter with the invisible sparked a lifelong fascination with the unseen forces that govern the universe.

Einstein's formal education began in Munich. He was a good student, but he chafed under the rigid, disciplined German school system. He disliked the emphasis on rote memorization and the teachers' authoritarian style. To him, this kind of learning stifled creativity and critical thinking.

He found his own curriculum outside of school. A young medical student, Max Talmud, became an informal tutor, introducing Einstein to higher mathematics and philosophy. By age 12, Einstein was teaching himself Euclidean geometry from a schoolbook, which he called his "holy little geometry book."

When he was 15, his family's business failed, and they moved to Pavia, Italy. Einstein was left behind in Munich to finish his schooling. Unhappy and alone, he used a doctor's note to leave the school and join his family in Italy. He also renounced his German citizenship to avoid mandatory military service.

Free from the German system, Einstein sought a more suitable education. At 16, he applied to the prestigious Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich (now ETH Zurich). He failed the entrance examination. While his scores in mathematics and physics were exceptional, he fell short in the general subjects.

The school's principal, impressed by his math and physics abilities, suggested he first complete his secondary education at a cantonal school in Aarau, Switzerland. Einstein spent a year there, living with the family of one of his teachers. He enjoyed the school's more liberal atmosphere, which encouraged independent thought.

After graduating, Einstein enrolled at the Polytechnic in 1896. He wasn't the most diligent student, often skipping lectures he found uninteresting. He preferred to study the works of master physicists like James Clerk Maxwell on his own. He relied on the detailed lecture notes of his friend, Marcel Grossmann, to pass his exams.

During his time in Zurich, he also met Mileva Marić, a fellow physics student from Serbia. She was the only woman in their class. They developed a close relationship, bonding over their shared passion for physics.

Einstein graduated in 1900 with a diploma in physics and mathematics. His professors, annoyed by his rebellious attitude, didn't give him strong recommendations, and he struggled to find an academic position. His early education was complete, but his journey into the heart of physics was just beginning.

Let's test your knowledge of Einstein's early years.

These formative experiences, from the compass that sparked his curiosity to the challenges of formal schooling, set the stage for the scientific revolutions he would later unleash.