Einstein was born in Germany on this day in 1879. And 137 years later, he's still seen as one of the most brilliant minds in science — and among the most fascinating characters in history. Even though Einstein was a veritable genius, he was anything but a jargon-wielding, inaccessible, snobby intellectual. Yes, the theoretical physicist made one of the most influential contributions to science of all time — the general theory of relativity, MC-something-or-other — but he was also a surprisingly funny dude who didn't take himself too seriously.