Stephen Hawking was a British scientist, professor and author who

performed groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology, and whose

books helped to make science accessible to everyone. 
At age 21, while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge,
he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. The eldest
of Frank and Isobel Hawking's four children, Hawking was born into a
family of thinkers. 
Hawking's birth came at an inopportune time for his parents, who didn't
have much money. The political climate was also tense, as England
was dealing with World War II and the onslaught of German bombs in
London, where the couple was living as Frank Hawking undertook
research in medicine. 
In 1950, Hawking's father took work to manage the Division of
Parasitology at the National Institute of Medical Research, and spent
the winter months in Africa doing research. He wanted his eldest child
to go into medicine, but at an early age, Hawking showed a passion for
science and the sky. 

Early in his academic life, Hawking, while recognized as bright, was

not an exceptional student. During his first year at St. Albans School,
he was third from the bottom of his class. 

But Hawking focused on pursuits outside of school; he loved board

games, and he and a few close friends created new games of their
own. During his teens, Hawking, along with several friends,
constructed a computer out of recycled parts for solving rudimentary
mathematical equations.

Hawking entered University College at the University of Oxford at the

age of 17. Although he expressed a desire to study mathematics,
Oxford didn't offer a degree in that specialty, so Hawking gravitated
toward physics and, more specifically, cosmology.

By his own account, Hawking didn't put much time into his studies. He
would later calculate that he averaged about an hour a day focusing on
school. And yet he didn't really have to do much more than that. In
1962, he graduated with honors in natural science and went on to
attend Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge for a Ph.D. in
cosmology.
In 1968, Hawking became a member of the Institute of Astronomy in
Cambridge. The next few years were a fruitful time for Hawking and his
research. In 1973, he published his first, highly-technical book, The
Large Scale Structure of Space-Time

In 1979, Hawking found himself back at the University of Cambridge,

where he was named to one of teaching's most renowned posts.

At a New Year's party in 1963, Hawking met a young languages

undergraduate named Jane Wilde. They were married in 1965. The
couple gave birth to a son, Robert, in 1967, and a daughter, Lucy, in
1970. A third child, Timothy, arrived in 1979.

In 1990, Hawking left his wife Jane for one of his nurses, Elaine
Mason. The two were married in 1995. 

In 2003, nurses looking after Hawking reported their suspicions to

police that Elaine was physically abusing her husband. Hawking
denied the allegations, and the police investigation was called off. In
2006, Hawking and Elaine filed for divorce.

Over the years, Hawking wrote a total of 15 books.

In September 2010, Hawking spoke against the idea that God could
have created the universe in his book The Grand Design. Hawking
previously argued that belief in a creator could be compatible with
modern scientific theories. 

In this work, however, he concluded that the Big Bang was the
inevitable consequence of the laws of physics and nothing more.

At the age of 21, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral

sclerosis.

By the mid-1970s, the Hawking family had taken in one of Hawking's

graduate students to help manage his care and work. He could still
feed himself and get out of bed, but virtually everything else required
assistance. 
In addition, his speech had become increasingly slurred, so that only
those who knew him well could understand him. In 1985 he lost his
voice for good following a tracheotomy. The resulting situation required
24-hour nursing care for the acclaimed physicist.

In 2007, at the age of 65, Hawking made an important step toward

space travel. While visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, he
was given the opportunity to experience an environment without
gravity. 

In 2011, Hawkings had participated in a trial of a new headband-styled

device called the iBrain. The device is designed to "read" the wearer's
thoughts by picking up "waves of electrical brain signals," which are
then interpreted by a special algorithm.

In 2014, Hawking, among other top scientists, spoke out about the
possible dangers of artificial intelligence, or AI, calling for more
research to be done on all of possible ramifications of AI.

In July 2015, Hawking held a news conference in London to announce

the launch of a project called Breakthrough Listen. Funded by Russian
entrepreneur Yuri Milner, Breakthrough Listen was created to devote
more resources to the discovery of extraterrestrial life. 

On March 14, 2018, Hawking finally died of ALS, the disease that was
supposed to have killed him more than 50 years earlier. A family
spokesman confirmed that the iconic scientist died at his home in
Cambridge, England.