Albert Abraham Michelson was born in December of 1852 in Prussia, immigrating to the United States with his family two years later. After serving briefly in the U.S. Navy, Michelson taught physics at the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland and later at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1892, he was appointed head of the physics department at the University of Chicago.

It was during his time in Chicago that Michelson became well-known in the field of physics. His work to measure the speed of light gained him notoriety and helped him receive the Nobel Prize in 1907. While Michelson was not successful in determining the speed of light, his experiments eventually paid off and the speed of light was discovered just two years after his death. 

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