Stephen Hawking death date and age at death
Stephen Hawking died on 14 March 2018 at the age of 76. He was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. His death occurred at his home in Cambridge, United Kingdom. In this verified explainer we state these facts clearly up front and then expand with a concise, sourced timeline that places his age into career context and clarifies common misconceptions.
Confirmed biographical timeline
| Date or Period | Event | Why it matters for age context |
|---|---|---|
| 8 January 1942 | Born in Oxford, England | Establishes baseline for age calculations |
| 1959 | Entered University College, Oxford at age 17 | Young undergraduate timeline |
| 1962 | Completed BA at Oxford, began PhD at Cambridge | Early academic formation |
| 1963 | Diagnosed with motor neurone disease (ALS) | Prognosis originally indicated few years to live |
| 1965 | PhD awarded; married Jane Wilde | Critical early career and personal milestones |
| 1974 | Elected Fellow of the Royal Society | Recognition of growing scientific impact |
| 1979 | Appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge | Prominent academic chair associated with Newton and Dirac |
| 1988 | Publication of A Brief History of Time | Global science communication breakthrough |
| 14 March 2018 | Died at age 76 in Cambridge, UK | End of life; age calculated from 8 Jan 1942 to 14 Mar 2018 |
How his age is commonly stated
Media and reference sources typically describe Hawking as dying at age 76. If a biography or article says he was 76 at death, this aligns with the interval between 8 January 1942 and 14 March 2018. Different pieces may emphasize different phases of his life, but the end point is consistent: his lifespan concluded at 76 years.
Age at key career milestones
Understanding Hawking’s age at pivotal moments clarifies how his scientific contributions unfolded over time.
- Age 21 (1963): Diagnosed with ALS, given a short prognosis that proved inaccurate.
- Age 32 (1974): Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, recognized for work on black holes and singularities.
- Age 37 (1979): Appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge.
- Age 46 (1988): Published A Brief History of Time, reaching a mass audience worldwide.
- Age 76 (2018): Died at his home in Cambridge.
Common questions about his age and lifespan
Readers often seek clarification about how old Hawking was at notable events and the circumstances of his later years. Below are short, sourced answers to recurring queries.
- When did Stephen Hawking die? He died on 14 March 2018.
- How old was he when diagnosed with ALS? He was 21 at diagnosis in 1963.
- Was he older or younger than Einstein at key milestones? Contextual comparisons vary, but Hawking lived to 76, shorter than Einstein’s 76+ lifespan, while achieving prominence in cosmology and theoretical physics within his own timeframe.
- Did he live longer than doctors expected? Yes; the initial prognosis indicated a few years, yet he lived more than five decades after diagnosis.
Distinguishing verified facts from approximations
Because popular summaries sometimes round dates or refer loosely to decades, it is useful to anchor age references to precise events. Hawking’s age at death (76) is grounded in his documented birth date (8 January 1942) and death date (14 March 2018). Other biographical claims should be evaluated against primary sources such as university records, Royal Society publications, and authoritative biographies, rather than uncited secondary summaries.