Excerpt:
Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany. He was the son of Hermann and Paulina Koch Einstein. When Einstein was five years old, his father showed him a pocket compass. Little boy genius was deeply impressed by the mysterious behavior of the compass needle, which kept pointing in the same direction no matter which way the compass was turned. He later said he felt then that "something deeply hidden had to be behind things."