STEPHEN HAWKING the name is synonymous with inspiration, positivity, and intellect. On 14th of March the whole world was saddened by the news of his demise. He was a living legend and gave many theories and better our understanding of cosmos. He had answers for everything and lived his life to the fullest. With all the world paying tribute to the legend after he passed away we decided to share interesting facts about Stephen Hawking you might not know about.

Interesting Facts about Stephen Hawking

1 – Stephen Hawking Born on Galileo’s death anniversary and Died on Pi Day/Einstein’s Birthdate.

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, during WW2 in Oxford, United Kingdom. His birthday was on the 300th death anniversary of Galileo. He died on Pi day, 14 March 2018, Einstein’s birthdate.

Image: lwpkommunikacio/flickr

2 – Einstein Connection

He was nicknamed Einstein during his school days despite being a mediocre student. ( Next point will shed some light on this nickname )

image source:swns.com

3 – Always Tinkering ( Built a computer)

He did his schooling from St. Albans High School. Where he along with his friends and help of the mathematics teacher built a computer. They used old telephones parts, clocks, and other electronics items. He always had a curious mind and was always interested in knowing how things work? He used to disassemble radios, clocks, and other household appliances.

Image: dailymail.co.uk

4 – Stephen Hawking was a Mediocre Student

Generally, scientists are considered of high IQ and geniuses. It was not the case with Stephen Hawking. He was a mediocre student during his school days. When he was 9 years old, Stephen Hawking was ranked among the worst students in the class. He did manage to bring the grades up to the average.

image source: independent.co.uk

5 – He came from a well-educated family

His parents Frank Hawking ( medicine ) and Isobel Hawking (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) both attended the University of Oxford. Stephen Hawking had two sisters, Philippa and Mary, and an adopted brother, Edward.

image source: slideshare

6 – When he had 2 years to live at the age of 21.

In 1963 during his college time, he experienced some problem in walking. Later he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Doctors told him that he had only 2 years to live.
Image: thedailybeast.com

7 – Stephen Hawking Didn’t like biology.

As per some reports, Stephen Hawking had interest in mathematics from an early age. His father had some different plans. Since his father was into medicines, he hoped that Stephen would also go into medicines. According to Stephen Hawking, biology was too inexact, too descriptive. He would be better off with something more precise, well-defined.
image source: cromo.com.uy

8 – He was on Oxford Rowing Team

During the early days of his college, he wasn’t happy. He later found his liking for rowing. Although Stephen Hawking was not much of an athlete but on rowing team as a coxswain, he was perfect.
Source: A Pondering Mind

9 – He experienced zero gravity.

In 2007, he experienced zero gravity. He floats out of his chair in 4 decades. This was done by the Zero Gravity Corp which allows passengers to feel zero gravity during flights.
image source: business insider

10 – Witty, funny and good sense of humor.

People who have worked with him closely and knew him would tell you that Stephen Hawking a fun guy. He has always been a witty guy and had a pretty good sense of humour. In an interview with New York Time in 2004, he said, “life would be tragic if it weren’t funny”.

11- He lost a bet on black holes

In 1975, he proposed that black holes aren’t really black and they radiate energy. He also said that information is lost in the black holes. This created an “information paradox” since the idea conflicted with the rules of quantum mechanics.  In 1997 Stephen Hawking made a bet with John Preskill on this. In 2004 he lost the bet on black holes.
image source: Indian Express

12 – He was never nominated for Nobel Prize.

In his long career in physics, he had remarkable success and won many awards. He had at least 12 honorary degrees, but he never won a Nobel prize. His most notable work is black holes radiations also known as Hawking radiation. His work hasn’t been proved yet because we don’t have the technology to actually test the theories proposed by him.
image source: Imperial.ac.uk

13 – He Was children’s book author.

Stephen Hawking wrote many popular books. A brief history of time was his most notable book. In 2007, Stephen and his daughter Lucy wrote “George’s Secret Key to the Universe.”

14 – Stephen Hawking on Televison

Stephen Hawking appeared on many tv shows. He also voiced his animated character in The Simpsons. Star Trek: Next Genaration, The Big Bang Theory, Futurama were some of his notable work.

15 – On Women

When asked about the mysterious things in the world? He said, its women.

16 – The Ice Bucket Challenge

In 2014, Stephen accepted the ice bucket challenge, due to bad health he couldn’t do it. So his kids did it on his behalf.

These were some interesting facts about Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking was truly a gem of our generation. He inspired millions of people around the world. Despite being a mediocre student, he will always be known as the smartest person to live on this planet. His work will guide the future and better our understanding of cosmos. He published many books. In fact, if we list all his work here chances are we will run out of the pages. His contributions would always be with us and he will always be with us. May he rest in peace.