Stephen Hawking's life in pictures
Birth -
Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England.
Studies -
Though his father wanted him to study medicine, he ended up studying physics at University College, Oxford, in 1959.
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.
'The voice' - The scientist had been using a speech synthesizer after undergoing a tracheostomy in 1985.
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.
Disease - Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare degenerative disease that leaves most of the body's muscles paralyzed.
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.
Television - In 2004, the BBC aired the TV movie 'Hawking,' directed by Philip Martin.
Cinema - But the biggest box-office hit about his life was the critically-acclaimed 'The Theory of Everything' (2014).
Oscars - Eddie Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking won him the Oscar for Best Actor.
Personal life - He married Jane Hawking in 1965, but the couple divorced in 1991.
Second marriage - He then married his nurse Elaine Mason in 1995. They were together for 11 years.
Family - Stephen Hawking had three children and three grandchildren.
Special guest - The scientist made a special cameo in 'The Big Bang Theory' episode 'The Hawking Excitation.'
'Shame on you, Sheldon!' - In the episode, Sheldon makes a basic arithmetic mistake and faints in front of Professor Hawking.
'Star Trek' - In the TV series 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' Hawking made a guest appearance as a hologram, next to Newton and Einstein.
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.'
2012 Olympics -
Stephen Hawking read the opening speech at the 2012 Paralympics in London.