Stephen Hawking

1942 – 2018 · died at about 76^[1][2]

Science & Invention

Fun Facts About Stephen Hawking

• Stephen Hawking threw a party for time travelers in 2009 and announced it only after it was over, so only time travelers could come. Nobody showed up.^[1]
• Hawking's ashes rest in Westminster Abbey between the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, under a stone inscribed with his equation for the temperature of Hawking radiation.^{[1][3][4][5][6]}
• Hawking's famous computer voice had an American accent. Even when other voices became available, he kept it, saying he identified with it.^[1]
• At his Oxford final oral exam, Hawking told the examiners that if they gave him a First he would go to Cambridge, and if a Second he would stay in Oxford.^[1]
• Hawking's synthesized voice appears in the Pink Floyd song "Keep Talking", and he played a hologram of himself on Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[1]
• Hawking's schoolmates nicknamed him "Einstein", though he was not initially successful academically.^[1][7][8]
• Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after Galileo died, both on January 8.^{[1][2][9][10]}
• Stephen Hawking was alive at the same time as Joseph Stalin — their lives overlapped for 11 years (1942–1953).^{[1][2][11][12]}

Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world.^[1]

Contemporaries

Stan Lee

76 yr overlap

James Watson

76 yr overlap

Noam Chomsky

76 yr overlap

Desmond Tutu

76 yr overlap

Toni Morrison

76 yr overlap

Wole Soyinka

76 yr overlap

Jane Goodall

76 yr overlap

Dalai Lama

76 yr overlap

Woody Allen

76 yr overlap

Pope Francis

76 yr overlap

Francis Ford Coppola

76 yr overlap

Pelé

76 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Stephen Hawking

When was Stephen Hawking born?

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, and died on March 14, 2018.

How old was Stephen Hawking at death?

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, and died on March 14, 2018, at age 76.

What was Stephen Hawking known for?

Stephen Hawking was known for: Black holes, A Brief History of Time. Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world.

Who was alive at the same time as Stephen Hawking?

Stephen Hawking's closest contemporary was Stan Lee. Their lives overlapped for 76 years.