World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. Born in Oxford, England, Hawking became famous for his work on black holes, cosmology and quantum gravity – his contributions to science spanned more than four decades.
He also wrote many books on those subjects, including the 1988 best-seller "A Brief History of Time," which gives an account of the creation of the universe. He was a professor of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at Britain's Cambridge University for decades. Hawking was married and divorced twice. He and his first wife had three children.
Over the years, Hawking's acclaimed work won him countless prestigious positions. He became one of the youngest Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts and was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science. He also became a fellow of the Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge and served as the distinguished research chair at Waterloo's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He even took his place in pop culture with notable guest appearances in TV shows like "Star Trek," "Futurama," and "The Simpsons," as well as being mentioned often and his appearance in "The Big Bang Theory."
- "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years," Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said in a statement. "His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humor inspired people across the world. He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love.' We will miss him forever."