8 January
1942: On 8 January 1942, Stephen Hawking was born.
Hawking, an English theoretical physicist, has held since 1979 the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. The post was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton.
He has made remarkable contributions to the field of cosmology (the study of the Universe as a whole) and his many publications include several popular books such as A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and most recently in 2001, The Universe in a Nutshell.
1642: Galileo Galilei died on 8 January 1642.
Galileo was an Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who applied the new techniques of the scientific method to make significant discoveries in physics and astronomy.
