October 6, 2009—Since 1901, the world's most prestigious award has recognized a range of pioneers and luminaries, from Albert Einstein to Al Gore.

© 2009 National Geographic (AP)

Unedited Transcript

Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, along with with Rajendra Pachauri accepting on behalf of the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work to sound the alarm over global warming. The 6 Nobel prizes are traditionally awarded on December 10th each year, the anniversary of Alfred Nobels death in 1896. He was a Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite, and established five of the current six prizes in his will.

In 1903 Marie Curie became the first woman laureate when she shared half of the physics prize with her husband, Pierre.

The following year Russian Ivan Pavlov was recognized for his experiment of conditioning a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. President Theodore Roosevelt was the first American recipient. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in mediating the end to the Russo-Japanese War. Rudyard Kipling the author of "The Jungle Book," won the 1907 Nobel prize in Literature.

Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his contributionsespecially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. In 1945 Sir Alexander Fleming was one of 3 men awarded the prize in medicine for the discovery of penicillin. Sir Francis Crick won in 1962 with his colleagues for their description of the DNA helix, helping advance our understanding of life.

Mother Teresa received the peace prize in 1979 for her work among India's poor.

The Dalai Lama was awarded the peace prize in 1989. He is seen here at a gathering of peace prize winners to mark the 100th anniversary of the award in 2001.

In 1990 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the peace prize for his progressive international policies.

The following year Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was recognized for her struggle to bring democracy to her homeland.

Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest.

The Peace Prize in 1994 generated controversy, when it was jointly awarded to PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israel's Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin for their 1993 peace pact called the Oslo Agreement.

The 2009 prizes are worth 1.4 million dollars U-S.

Being honored by the Nobel Institute is the moment of glory that scientists, writers and champions of peace worldwide dream of.

Throughout the week the six Nobel committees will announce their picks for the world's most prestigious awards, honoring outstanding achievements in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, economics and the promotion of world peace.