..  NOBEL PRIZE DAY ..     The Nobel Prize is an international award   administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.     The Awards were dedicated by Alfred B. Nobel.     Except for the Peace Prize,   the official Nobel Prizes are presented at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden,   at the Annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony on December 10th,   the anniversary of Nobel's death.     They are followed by the Nobel Banquet at Stockholm City Hall.     The Nobel Peace Prize   and the Recipients' Lectures are held at the Annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway,   also usually on December 10th.     The week prior to the Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies is known as Nobel Week.     Throughout the week recipeint's lectures occur.     According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation,   each laureate is required to give a public lecture on a subject related to the topic of their prize         Alfred B. Nobel was a Swedish chemist and engineer who invented dynamite.     He dedicated nine million dollars in his will to establish the Nobel Prizes.     The prizes are awarded annually,   without regard to nationality,   in six areas (peace,   literature,   physics,   chemistry,   physiology or medicine,   and economic science)   "to those who,   during the preceding year,   shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."         Nobel is credited with creating a controllable combustible that made blasting rock   and the construction of canals and tunnels   a relatively safe process.     He also contributed to the inventions of synthetic rubber,   artificial silk,   and synthetic leather.         Family members were shocked when they learned that Nobel donated his fortune to establishing the Nobel Prizes.     They contested his will,   but failed and the first awards were distributed in 1901,   on the fifth anniversary of his death.         Each winner of a Nobel Prize,   which can go to individuals or institutions,   takes home a medal,   a diploma,   and cash,   which depends on the income earned on the Nobel Foundation fund.     In 2008,   winners recipients receive 10 million Swedish kroners,   or about $1.72 million.         In two cases the Prize was nominated when the recipient were still alive but was awarded posthumously.     UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld (1961, Peace Prize)   and Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1931, Literature)   were both awarded the prize in the years they died.     Since 1974,   awards have not been allowed for a deceased person.         Prizes are not automatically awarded each year.   They can be withheld if there are no worthy candidates   or when a world situation makes awarding the prizes impractical.     During World War II,   no awards were given from 1940–1942.   Prizes can also be declined.     Even if a prize is declined,   the winner is entered in the books,   but the cash gift reverts back to the fund.