Stephen Hawking was born in Oxford, England in 1942 and studied physics and cosmology at university. While working on his PhD, he was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that doctors said would give him only a few years to live. Despite his diagnosis, Hawking decided to continue his studies and later married Jane Wilde. Though confined to a wheelchair, Hawking has lived a long life through modern medicine and has accomplished much, including publishing the hugely popular science book "A Brief History of Time" and many other works explaining complex scientific concepts.