Here’s the story behind the Einstein Tongue Photo
Einstein Tongue Photo – This image of Albert Einstein showing his tongue has become the subject of many memes nowadays.
The genius is known for his theory of special relativity, a person with a very high IQ, and someone who is admired until now for his intellectual capabilities. However, at some point, in some instances, when his name is mentioned, some people remember his iconic wacky picture.
The online community has consumed the tongue-out photo of Einstein for different purposes but mainly it is because of conveying something through memes or gifs.
Based on the article in Discovery, this Einstein Tongue Photo was taken on March 14, 1951. That was his birthday that day. Einstein was leaving his 72nd birthday party at Princeton University and paparazzi were surrounding the area. It was understandable that the genius was tired of smiling already for the camera.
Reporters and photographers swarmed him again as he climbed into the backseat of a car between Dr. Frank Aydelotte, the former head of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, and Aydelotte’s wife, Marie Jeanette.
He was in no mood to flash a smile to the reporters and photographers. Legends said that the genius shouted, “That’s enough!” to the press but they did not listen. Because of exasperation at that moment, it was said that Einstein just stuck his tongue out to the crowd and immediately turned away.
It was Arthur Sasse from the United Press International (UPI) who was able to capture that moment that has become an iconic photo.
Einstein loved that image of him and so he asked UPI to give him nine prints that he could use as personal greeting cards. His photo was cropped to just include her face and this has circulated. One image remained as is. He signed the uncropped photo for a reporter and that photo was sold at auction for a whopping $125,000 in 2017.