Stephen Hawking was a renowned British physicist and author known for his contributions to cosmology and physics. He was born in 1942 in Oxford, England and died in 2018 at the age of 76 in Cambridge. Despite being diagnosed with ALS at a young age and given only a few years to live, Hawking lived for over 50 more years through his persistence and focus on his research. He developed theories on black holes and relativity that gave new insights into the cosmos. Hawking authored several popular science books including A Brief History of Time, and received numerous honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He inspired many as one of the greatest scientific minds of his time despite his physical challenges.