There's no way you haven't heard of Albert Einstein - he's one of the most famous people of the 20th century! But what do you really know about him? He had crazy hair and a German accent, and he was really smart, but everyone already knows that! Maybe if you love science you already know a little about his amazing contributions to physics! But there's a lot more to him than that, of course - and some of it might surprise you! Read on to learn some fascinating facts about Einstein - his work, his beliefs, and his favourite hobby (that he wasn't very good at)! Don't forget to stay around for more facts - we've got some great historical ones for you! Learn all about Beatrix Potter, Charles II, and gladiators!

1. He was German

Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. He lived in a lot of places, including Italy, Switzerland and the Czech Republic (though at the time it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which doesn't exist any more). Einstein is a German-Jewish name that literally means "stone worker".

2. He fled Germany in 1933

Einstein left Germany for good in 1933. This was because he was being targeted by the Nazis, who took total control of Germany in 1933. Einstein was considered an enemy of the party because he was critical of their policies, and because he was Jewish. The Jewish people were considered the number one enemy by the Nazi party, and the Nazis wanted to eliminate all Jews. His works were burned by the Nazis, among lots of other books and papers by scholars, writers and critics. Einstein fled to Belgium, then England, and later to the the United States.

3. He was always super smart

There's a bit of a myth that Einstein was actually a bad student in school and failed his exams. This isn't true! He had some problems with subjects like language and botany, but not everyone can excel at everything, and he totally rocked the maths and physics exams in high school! He graduated at the top of his class. He famously failed an entrance exam for the prestigious Swiss Polytechnical School, but bear in mind he took the exam two years earlier than most people, and the exam was in French (which was not his first language). Einstein was by all accounts a very dedicated and accomplished student.

4. ...but no one knows his I.Q.

An I.Q. (short for Intelligence Quotient) is a number that determines someone's intelligence taken from a number of tests. Some people think that the number isn't worth a lot because the tests aren't reliable, but generally speaking: the higher the number, the smarter the person! The average person scores about 100 points. It's estimated that Einstein's score was between 160 and 180, but he never took a test so we'll never know for sure.

5. He created the world's most famous equation

Ever heard "E = mc²"? Einstein made it famous! It sounds complicated, but all it means is: "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared." Okay, that's still pretty complicated! It basically means that Einstein worked out that matter (which is the tiny particles that make up everything in the universe) can turn into energy, and the equation shows how this can be done. Einstein was only 26 when he came up with this!

6. He was a vegetarian, sort of

Another famous myth about Einstein is that he gave up meat voluntarily and became an early vegetarian. This isn't quite true - he ate meat throughout his life, but his doctor advised him not to. Einstein had digestive problems and his doctor thought that it would be better if he didn't eat meat. He said he felt guilty about eating meat because he recognised the moral problems with it, but his choice to not eat it was only because of his stomach problems.

7. He was a sailor, but he wasn't very good at it

Einstein was a keen yachtsman as well as a great physicist. However he wasn't as good at sailing as he was at physics - he lost his bearings a lot, was known to run aground, drop his mast and hit other boats a lot. Oh, and also he couldn't swim! He still loved sailing though, and owned a boat called Tinef, which he kept until his death.

8. He was a civil rights icon

Eisntein supported the civil rights movement in the United States. This was an movement where Black Americans fought for equality with white Americans, and it mostly happened in the 1950s and 1960s. Einstein thought that racism meant that freedom would never be achieved, and when he lived in America he called racism "a disease". His anti-racist actitivites got him in trouble, but he was too famous for it to really affect him. He taught Black students at university, and in 1937 he famously hosted opera star Marian Anderson at his home after she was denied accommodation based on her race. He wasn't perfect (some of his diaries in the 1920s had bad opinions about the native people he saw on his travels), but he seems to have changed a lot later, and he definitely knew what it was like to be persecuted.

9. He was kind to children

When Einstein lived in Princeton, New Jersey, he liked to take long walks where he would gather his thoughts. When he walked through the city's neighbourhood, especially African-American ones, he would talk to families and give sweets to the children he met! He also received lots of letters from kids when he became famous - and he answered them too! A collection of replies he wrote to children has been published, called Dear Professor Einstein.

10. He was the inspiration for Yoda

You might never look at Yoda the same again after learning this! When The Empire Strikes Back, the sequel to hit Star Wars, was made in 1980, special effects artist Nick Maley mentioned that they'd had a picture of Einstein up in the studio, and that the puppet's sculpture was based quite a lot on Einstein's appearance, especially his eyes. It makes sense - Yoda has to be smart and wise for Luke to learn from him!

11. He pioneered the Theory of Relativity

You already know about his famous equation, and it was just part of his work! Einstein's work examined how gravity affects space and time. This allows scientists to learn more about planets, stars, black holes and the evolution of the entire universe!

12. He won a Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize is one of the biggest awards you can win. You can win it for your work in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Economics or Peace. Einstein won it for Physics in 1921 for his work in theoretical physics, but he didn't actually receive it until 1922, because the Nobel Committee thought that hsi work didn't meet the criteria of Alfred Nobel's will (the man who created the Nobel Prize).

13. He was a nerd

Okay, "Einstein was really smart and kind of nerdy" isn't very surprising. But when we say "nerd", we mean one of us! He wa a huge comic book fan, and apparently skived off his work as a patent clerk to read comics! He also loved TV, and one of his favourites was a 1950s kids' puppet show called Time for Beany, which had lots of gags for grown-ups in it. Legend has it he once left a conference saying, "You will have to excuse me, gentlemen. It's Time for Beany." He didn't like science fiction very much though - maybe it's hard to read when you know so much about it!

14. There are a lot of fake Einstein quotes out there

Odds are you've seen a quote floating around on social media before, like "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results", and it says that Einstein said it. But he definitely didn't say that - he said a lot of things in his life, but lots more have been made up! It's probably because whatever you're saying sounds a lot smarter when you put "Albert Einstein" after it. Whenever you see an Einstein quote, it's always worth looking up whether it's real or not!

15. He's a big part of popular culture

You've probably come across Einstein before, not because you've read his papers but because you've seen him in a movie, cartoon, TV show or even a video game! Einstein has appeared as a reference or even a character in more things than we can list here, including Night at the Museum, Arthur, Back to the Future, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Animaniacs and The Simpsons! Recently he played a supporting role in summer blockbuster Oppenheimer, which was about the building of the first nuclear bomb - something terribly destructive made possible by the work of physicists. Wherever you heard of him first, it's always great to learn all about him in real life!