AN EINSTEIN CHRONOLOGY 521
1892 No bar mitzvah for E.
1894 The family moves to Italy, first to Milan, then to Pavia, then back to Milan.
E. stays in Munich in order to finish school.
1894 or 95* E. sends an essay entitled 'An investigation of the state of the aether in a
magnetic field' to his uncle Caesar Koch in Belgium.
1895 Spring. E. leaves the Luitpold Gymnasium without completing his school-
ing. He rejoins his family in Pavia.
Fall. E. fails entrance examination for the ETH,** although he does very
well in mathematics and physics.
October 28-early fall 1896. E. attends the Gewerbeabteilung of the can-
tonal school in Aarau. He lives in the home of 'Papa' Jost Winteler, one of
his teachers. In this period, he writes a French essay, 'Mes projets d'avenir.'
1896 January 28. Upon payment of three mark, E. receives a document which
certifies that he is no longer a German (more precisely, a Wiirttemberger)
citizen. He remains stateless for the next five years.
Fall. E. obtains his diploma from Aarau,f which entitles him to enroll at
the ETH. He takes up residence in Zurich on October 29. Among his fellow
students are Marcel Grossmann and Mileva Marie (or Marity). He starts
his studies for the diploma, which will entitle him to teach in high schools.
~1897 E.'s meeting in Zurich with Michele Angelo Besso marks the beginning of
a lifelong friendship.
1899 October 19. E. makes formal application for Swiss citizenship.
1900 July 27. A board of examiners requests that the diploma be granted to,
among others, the candidates Grossmann and Einstein. The request is
granted on July 28. E.'s marks are 5 for theoretical physics, experimental
physics, astronomy; 5.5 for theory of functions; 4.5 for a diploma paper (out
of a maximum 6).
Fall. E. is unsuccessful in his efforts to obtain a position as assistant at
the ETH.
December 13. From Zurich, E. sends his first paper to the Annalen der
Physik.
1901 February 21. E. becomes a Swiss citizen. On March 13 he is declared unfit
for Swiss military service because of flat feet and varicose veins.
March-April. Seeking employment, E. applies without success to
Ostwald in Leipzig and to Kamerlingh Onnes in Leiden.
May 17. E. gives notice of departure from Zurich.
May 19-July 15. Temporary teaching position in mathematics at the
technical high school in Winterthur, where E. stays until October 14.
*So dated by Einstein in 1950.
**ETH = Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule, The Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
fHis final grades were 6 for history, algebra, geometry, descriptive geometry, physics; 5 for German,
Italian, chemistry, natural history; 4 for geography, drawing (art), drawing (technical), out of a
maximum 6.