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Wolfgang Ketterle

Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

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Born
October 21, 1957
Age in 2026
69
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1957

About Wolfgang Ketterle

Wolfgang Ketterle is a German physicist and professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research has focused on experiments that trap and cool atoms to temperatures close to absolute zero, and he led one of the first groups to realize Bose–Einstein condensation in these systems in 1995. For this achievement, as well as early fundamental studies of condensates, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001, together with Eric Allin Cornell and Carl Wieman. Ketterle completed the 2013 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:49:16, and in 2014, in Boston, ran a personal record of 2:44:06.

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

Wolfgang Ketterle timeline

  1. For this achievement, as well as early fundamental studies of condensates, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001, together with Eric Allin Cornell and Carl Wieman.
  2. Ketterle completed the 2013 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:49:16, and in 2014, in Boston, ran a personal record of 2:44:06.

The world when Wolfgang Ketterle was born

Wolfgang Ketterle was born in 1957. 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 1957

  • #1 song"All Shook Up" – Elvis Presley
  • Top movieThe Bridge on the River Kwai
  • Top TV showGunsmoke
  • Best-selling bookOn the Road – Jack Kerouac

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMilwaukee Braves win the World Series
  • Top headlineSoviet Union launches Sputnik — Space Race begins
  • Technology milestoneSputnik 1 becomes first artificial satellite in orbit
  • Defining fadHula hoops (early buzz)
  • Notable inventionFrisbee
  • World population2.87 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championMilwaukee Braves (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population171.2M

1957 versus 2026

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

Measure19572026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,200$435,000
Average income$6,700$67,500
Minimum wage$1.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.51$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population171.2M341 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. 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.