Bohr was born in Copenhagen on October 7, 1885. He was the son of Christian Bohr, a professor of physiology at the University of Copenhagen. Niels entered the university in 1903 and studied there until he received his doctorate in 1911. He is reputed to have been not only a brilliant student, but also an accomplished soccer player.

After graduation, Bohr traveled to England to work first at the Cavendish laboratory, under Joseph J. Thomson, and later at the University of Manchester, under Ernest Rutherford. He remained at Manchester until 1916, when he returned to Copenhagen as professor of physics.

During his tenure at Manchester, Bohr developed his theory of the electronic structure of the hydrogen atom, the accomplishment for which he is most famous. In 1911 Rutherford proposed a new model of the atom, one in which all of the atom's positive charge was concentrated at its center, the nucleus. The electron s...