Stephen Hawking died on March 14, 2018, at age 76, at his home in Cambridge, England, after living for decades with ALS (motor neurone disease).

What happened

He was diagnosed in his early 20s with a slow-progressing form of the disease, which gradually paralyzed him over time.

By 1985, after a serious illness and tracheotomy, he lost his natural voice and later communicated with a speech-generating device.

Why he is remembered

Hawking became one of the world’s best-known physicists for his work on black holes, cosmology, and Hawking radiation.

He also became a major public science figure through A Brief History of Time and many appearances in popular culture.

In plain terms

So, what “happened” to Stephen Hawking is that he lived an extraordinarily full scientific life despite severe ALS, and he ultimately died of that disease in 2018.