Stephen Hawking was born on 8 January in Oxford
With a degree in physics from the University of Oxford, he undertakes research in cosmology at Cambridge, completing a doctorate thesis entitled "Properties of the Expanding Universes"
He learns that he suffers from a form of the degenerative and paralysing motor-neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
He marries Jane Wilde, with whom he has three children before they separate after 25 years.
He wins Cambridge University's prestigious Adams Prize for Essay Singularities and the Geometry of Space-time
He becomes fellow for Distinction in Science, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Aged 30, he becomes a research assistant in the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge.
He becomes at 32 one of the youngest members of the Royal Society, Britain's most prestigious scientific body.
Appointed professor of Gravitational Physics, University of Cambridge; Made honorary Fellow, University College, Oxford
He is appointed Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post he occupies for 30 years; Awarded the Albert Einstein Medal, Berne, Switzerland; Published General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey (edited with W Israel), Cambridge University Press
Made Commander of the British Empire (CBE); Honorary Doctor of Science at Notre Dame University, Princeton University, New York University and Leicester University
He loses the ability to speak after undergoing a tracheotomy to help him breathe after contracting pneumonia. This results eventually in his use of a computer and a voice synthesiser to communicate
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Hawking publishes "A Brief History of Time", which seeks to explain to non-scientists the fundamental theories of the universe. It becomes an international bestseller, bringing him global acclaim
He marries his former nurse, Elaine Mason; they divorce after several years
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He is awarded the Copley Medal, the Royal Society's oldest and most prestigious award
He goes on a weightless flight in the United States as a prelude to a hoped-for sub-orbital spaceflight
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He is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
He appeared at the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony in London
The Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything", by director James Marsh, is released. British actor Eddie Redmayne multiple awards for his portrayal of the scientist.
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He is awarded Honorary Freedom of the City of London
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14 March: Stephen Hawking dies peacefully at his home in Cambridge aged 76
