Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time, was a German-born physicist known for developing the theory of relativity with the mathematical formula E=mc2. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his contributions to theoretical physics
In the last half of Einstein’s life, he suffered from several medical issues including digestive system problems, gall bladder inflammation, stomach ulcers, liver cirrhosis, and intestinal pain. He underwent surgery to remove cysts in 1948 when he was 69 years old, and it was during the procedure that it was discovered he had an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
An aortic aneurysm often develops in the lower abdomen, which can cause constant pain in the area as the aorta balloons. The method to fix the medical issue back then isn’t as advanced as it is today. Einstein’s doctor reinforced the blood vessel wall with cellophane, which was the best solution at that time. However, there was still the risk of the aorta rupturing.
In 1955, Einstein was working on a speech in his office when he experienced chest and abdominal pain. He was brought to Princeton Hospital where doctors said that he needed to undergo surgery to repair a ruptured blood vessel in his aorta. However, Einstein refused, saying, “I want to go when I want to go. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share; it is time to go.” He died on April 18, 1955, at 76 years old, just a day after going to the hospital. Before his death, he left specific instructions for his body to be cremated and the ashes scattered at an undisclosed location, as he didn’t want people from “worshipping” his dead body.
Albert Einstein’s last wishes
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Einstein’s body was cremated on April 20 in a strictly private ceremony. Just a day later, Einstein’s son, Hans Albert, was shocked and incensed to read an article in The New York Times, saying his father’s brain had been removed during the autopsy.
Hours after Einstein’s death, Dr. Thomas Harvey conducted an autopsy, and it was then that he retrieved the scientist’s brain. Furthermore, he removed the eyeballs and gave them to Dr. Henry Abrams, Einstein’s optometrist. Einstein’s family didn’t give the pathologist permission to do so, nor did they know this had been done before the article was published.
Einstein’s family was deeply unhappy and they demanded that Dr. Harvey return the brain. However, Dr. Harvey convinced Hans Thomas that studying his father’s brain would benefit the scientific community, and he promised that the findings would be published in reputable scientific journals.
The public was interested in whether Einstein’s brain had certain structural differences from other people’s brains that made him a genius. Despite being outraged at what Dr. Harvey did, Hans Thomas eventually agreed to what the pathologist wanted to do on the condition that the brain would only be used for scientific studies. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
What did Dr. Harvey do to Einstein’s brain?
Pathologist Thomas Harvey (1912 – 2007) holds the brain of theoretical physicist Albert Einstein in a jar, Kansas, 1994. Harvey performed the autopsy on Einstein in 1955, and retained parts of the brain for scientific study. (Photo by Michael Brennan/Getty Images)
Shortly after acquiring Einstein’s brain, Princeton Hospital let go of Dr. Harvey for his controversial and unauthorized actions during the autopsy. He then headed to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he cut Einstein’s brain into hundreds of pieces and preserved most of the pieces in celloidin, a compound used for embedding specimens for microscopy. Other pieces were placed in two jars that he kept in his basement.
Unfortunately, Dr. Harvey didn’t have the expertise to study Einstein’s brain. As a pathologist, he was adept at performing postmortem examinations, but he wasn’t a brain doctor. He sent some samples to some neuropathologists to study, but he made his own observations as well. Since the public had knowledge that Dr. Harvey had the famous scientist’s brain, the media often hounded him for information or updates about what was happening with the studies, but he was evasive and said that the results would be published “soon.” The first study published was in 1985, 30 years after Einstein’s death.
Meanwhile, Dr. Harvey’s life went into shambles. His marriage fell apart and he moved to Wichita, Kansas, and then later to Weston, Missouri. He kept the jars with pieces of Einstein’s brain with him, concealed in a box with a beer cooler on top. In 1988, Dr. Harvey lost his medical license after failing a competency test. Afterward, Dr. Harvey moved from location to location, still keeping the jars with him. By the end of his life, it’s reported that he lived in a small apartment where he kept the jars in a closet. He eventually gave the jars to a pathologist at the University Medical Center of Princeton in 1998. Harvey died in 2007.
Where are the pieces of Einstein’s brain today?
Pieces of Einstein’s brain are in different parts of the United States. Harvey sent slides to doctors and scientists who may have kept the specimens for themselves. It’s also known that the jars Harvey kept for himself are now in Princeton. The National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland also has 350 slides in possession, which they bring out for exhibits from time to time. However, there is one place where Einstein’s brain is permanently displayed — the Mütter Museum. As for Einstein’s eyeballs, they are believed to be stored in a safety deposit box in New York City, though no one knows for sure.
The Mütter Museum, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a medical history museum with thousands of artifacts, including specimens, medical instruments, and models. It was only in 2011 that the museum was given Einstein’s brain slides. When Harvey had the slides made after he left Princeton, he went to the University of Pennsylvania to a lab technician, Marta Keller, who was renowned for making slides of specimens. Some of the slides were given to William Ehrich, a well-known neuropathologist in the state who worked at Philadelphia General Hospital.
Ehrich stored the slides until he died in 1967. Ehrich’s wife then passed the slides to another pathologist at Philadelphia General Hospital, Allen Steinberg, who gave them to Ehrich’s former student, neuropathologist Lucy Rorke-Adams. For years, she had the box of slides on her work desk but in 2011, she decided that it was best if they were donated to the Mütter Museum. “I think the time has come to turn them over to the College and the Mütter Museum as they are a part of medical history,” Rorke-Adams said.
Today, visitors at the museum can view 46 slides of Einstein’s brain and even see one slide under a magnifying lens. Each slide has a sliver of the brain that measures about 20 to 50 microns (0.02 mm to 0.05 mm) thick. The specimens of Einstein’s brain are one of the highlights of the museum, but, as he explicitly didn’t want his body to be worshipped after his death, we suspect Einstein’s ghost is very, very cross.
I walked into an eatery one afternoon to order takeout. While I waited for my food I kept busy with my phone. A man walked up to me with determination on his face. He smiled and said “Hello my name is Victor. I have been trying to get your attention from my table over there (he points to a far-off table). READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
You didn’t even blink in my direction.” I looked at him and said “Sorry I’ve been engrossed with my phone.” He said “I can see that. I suppose that’s how to get your attention, through your phone. Can you give me your number then?” I didn’t mind giving…Read Full Story Here……..
On the 3rd of June, 1999, Salisu Buhari, a 29-year-old Nigerian businessman who made his fortune dealing in computers, was elected as the speaker of the House of Representatives in Nigeria, a position which constitutionally made him the fourth most important person in Nigeria.
Unknowing to his colleagues, the government and the whole of Nigeria, Salisu Buhari was not qualified for the office he occupied. Few weeks after he was elected, findings revealed that Salisu Buhari, the sixth Speaker of the House of Rep. forged his way to power…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
The News Magazine released an article on the 19th of July, 1999 claiming that Salisu Buhari is seven years younger than the 36 years he claimed to be and that he didn’t attend the University of Toronto in Canada not to talk of graduating from the institution. The News Magazine had more than enough proofs to back their claims thus suppressing all threats made by Salisu Buhari and his lawyers to sue them for libel.
Salisu Buhari
It was made known to the world that Salisu Buhari, the self-acclaimed Toronto University graduate, was actually born in 1970 and not in 1963 which he claimed. This rendered him unqualified to be the Speaker as section 65 subsection 1 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria disqualified anybody under 30 years from contesting membership of the House of Representatives.
Also, it was made known that Salisu Buhari didn’t attend the University of Toronto in Canada not to talk of graduating with a degree in Business Administration in 1990. The University of Toronto, when asked, denied knowing Salisu Buhari. The management said they couldn’t find any record relating to the his name. Carlo Villanueva, an official of the Institution said,
“Regarding your request for confirmation of degree for Mr. Ibrahim Salisu Buhari. We have searched our records and could not find anybody with the name you are inquiring with”.
Letter from University of Toronto
Also, Salisu claimed that he did his national youth service at Standard Construction in Kano. This was proven false as records at the NYSC secretariat in Abuja could not produce his name among the 1991 corps members who served in the scheme. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Blocked in every way, he had no means of escape. After several open denial of the allegations and threats to sue The News Magazine, Salisu Buhari, on Thursday, July 23, 1999, eventually faced Nigerians and admitted declaring false age and forging certificate. In tears, he said,
“I apologize to you. I apologize to the nation. I apologize to my family and friends for all the distress I have caused them. I was misled in error by the zeal to serve the nation, I hope the nation will forgive me and give me the opportunity to serve again.”
He then resigned and walked into the shadows. In 2013, he made his return to the news and the public space when he was appointed as a member of the governing council of the University of Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Normally, the move garnered a lot of criticism. In a feeble attempt to justify the appointment, the Nigerian government explained that Buhari’s apology had earned him a presidential pardon from President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Joseph Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu alias Adelabu Penkelemesi was a colossal in the political arena of Ibadan and the then Western Region before the independence of Nigeria in 1960.
He was born in Oke-Oluokun, Ibadan, on September 3, 1915 to Mr. Sanusi Ashiyanbi Adelabu and Mrs. Awujola Adelabu. At the tender age of five, Adegoke Adelabu lost his mother and then lived with his paternal aunt. Adegoke Adelabu attended St. David’s C.M.S School in Kudeti, Ibadan from 1925 to 1929; CMS Central School, Mapo, Ibadan in 1930 and Government College, where he was a head boy, from 1931 to 1936…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
In 1936, Adegoke won a U.A.C scholarship to study commerce in Yaba Higher College but eventually left the college six months later to work as an assistant to the UAC Ibadan district manager. After working with UAC for sometime, he was promoted to an Assistant Manager due to his hard and clever work. However, he left UAC in 1937 to start a business of his own which was unsuccessful. He later took up a civil service job, then returned to UAC in 1945 only to leave after a short period to start a textile trading business which was successful.
After acquiring little wealth from his textile business, Adegoke Adelabu got involved in politics. The starting point of his political career was traced to the period when Ibadan lineage chiefs (Mogajis) rose against Salami Agbaje, the then Otun Balogun of Ibadan, from becoming the Olubadan of Ibadan. In 1951, during the local elections, Adelabu and some other political elements formed a new party called the Ibadan People’s Party to challenge the already established Ibadan Progressive Union and fortunately for Adelabu, the new party won all six seats to the Western Regional Assembly. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
However, the Ibadan People’s Party broke apart after an informal alliance with NCNC was proposed by Adelabu. Adegoke Adelabu stayed with NCNC and became the secretary of the party’s Western Province Working Committee. In 1954, Adelabu became the chairman of Ibadan District Council. Also, in the Federal elections of 1954, Adegoke Adelabu won a seat to the House of Representatives and later became the First National Vice President of NCNC and appointed Minister of Social Services. He held this post along with his chairmanship of the Ibadan district council.
He later resigned from both positions after allegations of corruption by the opposition party, Action Group.
In 1956, Adelabu ran for a seat in the regional assembly as the leader of NCNC in the Western Region but his party lost majority seats to Action Group thus making Adelabu the leader of opposition in the Western House of Assembly.
Adegoke Adelabu alias Adelabu Penkelemesi was a strong politician, leader and had his ground, a firm ground, in Ibadan. He was found of using the phrase “Peculiar mess” whenever he address the public. The non-literate segment of his followers who had never heard of the words peculiar and mess and never knew its meaning Yorubanized the phrase into “Penkelemesi” and then added it to his name- Adegoke Adelabu Penkelemesi. The people so much loved Adelabu. He was indeed a ‘man of the people’. OldNaija gathered that when he became the Minister of Labour, he was given an official limousine car which he drove to Ibadan to show his friends and followers and declared that the car belonged to them, not him. Also, when Adelabu was given an official residence in Ikoyi, the most exquisite part of Lagos inhabited mostly by the British and French, he called drummers from his hometown to celebrate the success which the British and French residents found disturbing. Adegoke Adelabu simply said, “If they do not like noise and drumming, they are free to go back to their own country.” Adegoke Adelabu admitted being an egoist in a book he wrote in 1952 titled ‘Africa In Ebullition: Being a handbook of freedom for Nigerian nationalists’.
Adegoke Adelabu and Obafemi Awolowo
On March 25, 1958, at the age of 43, Adegoke Adelabu met his untimely death in a fatal car accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. His death sparked protest and chaos in Ibadan as many of his supporters claimed he was assassinated by his opponents with juju. Several properties were destroyed and people also lost their lives. The police arrested over 500 persons of whom 102 was charged with murder and others discharged and some, jailed. It was indeed a big loss, a “peculiar miss” for the people of Ibadan.
