A little wonder, every day

Fact 1649 — The Nobel Prize was first shared by three people in 1934

AI-generated cover image (created 2026-10-19), symbolically showing three archival-style portraits and one medal for the jointly awarded prize; the portraits are fictional and not the laureates. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial cover about the first Nobel Prize shared by three people: three antique medical portraits arranged as blank frames beside one gold-colored medal and a medical journal on a 1930s desk, vertical 4:5. Symbolic and generic, no recognizable people, no official Nobel design, no readable text or logos.”

George Richards Minot, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1934. Source and author: Nobel Foundation; dated 1934. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Minot_nobel.jpg. Marked public domain in Sweden under photographic-work provisions; jurisdiction caveats apply. Credit: Nobel Foundation.

AI-generated editorial reconstruction (created 2026-10-19) of an anonymous 1930s medical research laboratory; not a photograph of Whipple, Minot or Murphy and not a specific documented experiment. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial reconstruction of a 1930s medical research laboratory studying treatment for pernicious anemia, anonymous physician and laboratory assistant examining unlabeled glass slides and sample jars, period clothing and equipment, vertical 4:5. Generic illustrative scene, not a portrait of any Nobel laureate and not a specific documented experiment, no labels or readable text.”

Signed portrait of William P. Murphy, dated 1975 or earlier according to the back of the photograph. Photographer unknown. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_P_Murphy_2.jpg. Public domain in the U.S. under the no-notice publication rule; other-jurisdiction caveats apply. No edits.

AI-generated symbolic editorial illustration (created 2026-10-19) evoking the liver therapy studied in the 1930s; it is not clinical evidence or medical advice. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial still life about the 1930s discovery of liver therapy for pernicious anemia: a simple plate of cooked liver and a small glass medicine vial on a clean hospital table, folded medical chart with no legible writing, subdued period setting, vertical 4:5. Historical educational illustration, not medical advice, no text or labels.”

1 / 5

AI-generated cover image (created 2026-10-19), symbolically showing three archival-style portraits and one medal for the jointly awarded prize; the portraits are fictional and not the laureates. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial cover about the first Nobel Prize shared by three people: three antique medical portraits arranged as blank frames beside one gold-colored medal and a medical journal on a 1930s desk, vertical 4:5. Symbolic and generic, no recognizable people, no official Nobel design, no readable text or logos.”

Listen to fact0:00 / —

In 1934, George Whipple, George Minot and William Murphy jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning liver therapy in cases of anaemia. It was the first time one Nobel Prize had been divided among three people.