Stephen Hawking was born on 8 January, 1942 in Oxford, England. He was a renowned scientist of modern time. His work on the origin of the universe 'The Big Bang' and the Black holes has contributed significantly to the field of Theoretical Physics. Here are some fascinating facts about the great physicist, Stephen Hawking.
1. Stephen Hawking was born on Galileo Galilei's 300th death anniversary.
2. He has appeared on T.V. shows like The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Simpsons.
3. Hawking has travelled to all the seven continents.
4. He survived his fatal motor neurone disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) for 55 years, most patient with the condition dies within 3 - 5 years.
5. Hawking was the 17th Lucasian Professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Isaac Newton was second.
6. Stephen Hawking is the first quadriplegic to fly in zero gravity.
7. Stephen Hawking used to communicate with the help of a computer and speech synthesizer. On the Computer, he used to select a word from multiple running words by twitching his cheek. Speech synthesizer, then, used to convert the text into speech.
8. He was able to select just one or two words in one minute. That's why his most interviews and speeches were done before the main event.
9. His prediction that Black holes emit radiation (Hawking Radiation) is a remarkable discovery in Theoretical Physics.
10. His book "A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes" has sold over a record-breaking 25 million copies.
11. "The Theory of Everything" is a movie made on the life of Stephen Hawking. Eddie Redmayne, the actor portraying his character, won the best actor Oscar award in 2015.
12. Stephen Hawking is one of the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, United States' highest civilian honour.