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Birth -

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. 

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Stephen Hawking -

He was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileu Galilei's death.

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Concerns - Professor Hawking was famous not only for his breakthrough research on the physics and cosmology fields, in which he helped to further understandings of theories on the origins of the universe, but also for his efforts to make science more accessible to the masses.

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Prestige - Hawking was a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post also occupied by the likes of Isaac Newton, Paul Dirac, and Charles Babbage.

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Inspiration - He was also the Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and founder of the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.

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Visionary - Hawking was a co-founder of the Breakthrough Listen project, whose goal was to find signs of alien communications in the universe.

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Studies -

Though his father wanted him to study medicine, he ended up studying physics at University College, Oxford, in 1959.

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Disease - Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of MND (motor neurone disease). It is a rare degenerative disease that leaves most of the body's muscles paralyzed.

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Strong will - When he was diagnosed by doctors at the age of 21, he was told he wouldn't have more than two years left to live. However, he managed to beat the odds.

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'The voice' - The scientist had been using a speech synthesizer after undergoing a tracheostomy in 1985.

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Difficulties - Later in 2005, Hawking used his cheek muscles to control the voice synthesizer, and by 2009, he could no longer operate his wheel chair.

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Documentaries -

'A Brief History of Time' (1991) was based on his book of the same title, and 'Hawking' (2013) was narrated by the Professor himself.

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Television - In 2004, the BBC aired the TV movie 'Hawking,' directed by Philip Martin. It starred Benedict Cumberbatch as a young Stephen Hawking, and it was focused on his time at the University of Cambridge.

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Cinema - But the biggest box-office hit about his life was the critically-acclaimed 'The Theory of Everything' (2014).

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Oscars - The movie was nominated for five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Eddie Redmayne), Best Actress (Felicity Jones), Best Adapted Screenplay (Anthony McCarten) and Best Original Music Score (Jóhann Jóhansson).

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Oscars - Eddie Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking won him the Oscar for Best Actor. The movie is based on the scientist's first wife Jane Hawking's memoir, 'Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen.'

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Personal life - He married Jane Hawking in 1965, but the couple divorced in 1991.

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Second marriage - He then married his nurse Elaine Mason in 1995. They were together for 11 years. 

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Family - Stephen Hawking had three children and three grandchildren. 

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Children's books -

The physicist and his daughter Lucy wrote children's books together, including 'George's Secret Key to the Universe' (2007).

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Children's books - The two also published 'George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt,' 'George and the Big Bang,' 'George and the Unbreakable Code,' and 'George and the Blue Moon.'

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Special guest - The scientist made a special cameo in 'The Big Bang Theory' episode 'The Hawking Excitation.'

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Science idol - In the episode, Howard (Simon Helberg) is assigned a job working alongside Hawking, which drives Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) to do some crazy things in order to meet his idol in person.

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'Shame on you, Sheldon!' - In the episode, Sheldon makes a basic arithmetic mistake and faints in front of Professor Hawking. 

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Other cameos - The physicist also appeared in animated shows, including 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama.'

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'Star Trek' - In the TV series 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' Hawking made a guest appearance as a hologram, next to Newton and Einstein.

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Music -

In 1994, he could be heard on Pink Floyd's album 'The Division Bell.' He was behind the digital voice in the song 'Keep Talking.'

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Pink Floyd - Twenty years later, in 'The Endless River' (the album made from songs that were meant to be used in 'The Division Bell'), the group used a sample of the scientist's voice in the track 'Talkin' Hawkin'.'

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2012 Olympics -

Stephen Hawking read the opening speech at the 2012 Paralympics in London.

See also: ALS-understanding Stephen Hawking's disease

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