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Alexander Prokhorov

Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002)

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Born
July 11, 1916
Died
January 8, 2002
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1916

About Alexander Prokhorov

Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist and researcher whose work focused on quantum electronics. His most famous and well-known works were on optics and electromagnetic research. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 with Charles Hard Townes and Nikolay Basov for his fundamental work that led to the development of the laser and the maser. Prokhorov fought in the infantry, was wounded twice in battles, and was awarded three medals, including the Medal For Courage in 1946. In 1959, Prokhorov became a professor at Moscow State University – the most prestigious university in the Soviet Union; the same year, he was awarded the Lenin Prize. Their results were first presented at a national conference in 1952, but not published until 1954–1955.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Alexander Prokhorov timeline

  1. Prokhorov fought in the infantry, was wounded twice in battles, and was awarded three medals, including the Medal For Courage in 1946.
  2. Their results were first presented at a national conference in 1952, but not published until 1954–1955.
  3. In 1959, Prokhorov became a professor at Moscow State University – the most prestigious university in the Soviet Union; the same year, he was awarded the Lenin Prize.
  4. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 with Charles Hard Townes and Nikolay Basov for his fundamental work that led to the development of the laser and the maser.

The world when Alexander Prokhorov was born

Alexander Prokhorov was born in 1916. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1916

  • Best-selling book"Seventeen" – Booth Tarkington

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGeorgia Tech defeats Cumberland 222-0, most lopsided football game ever
  • Top headlineBattle of the Somme — 1 million casualties
  • Technology milestoneTanks first used in warfare
  • Notable inventionMilitary tanks
  • World population~1.76B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population99.6M

1916 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Alexander Prokhorov's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19162026
Population99.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.