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Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 (300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. His parents' house was in north London, but during the second world war, Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St. Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At the age of eleven, Stephen went to St. Albans School and then on to University College, Oxford; his father's old college. Stephen wanted to study Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he pursued Physics instead. After three years and not very much work, he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science.

Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph.D. he became first a Research Fellow and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973, Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in 1979, and held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1979 until 2009. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Reverend Henry Lucas who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton.  Stephen is still an active part of Cambridge University and retains an office at the Department for Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics. His title is now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated that it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory, the other great Scientific development of the first half of the 20th Century. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but rather should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science.

His many publications include The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with G F R Ellis, General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, with W Israel, and 300 Years of Gravity, with W Israel. Among the popular books Stephen Hawking has published are his best seller A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Grand Design and My Brief History.

Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees. He was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes, is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Stephen was diagnosed with ALS, a form of Motor Neurone Disease, shortly after his 21st birthday. In spite of being wheelchair bound and dependent on a computerised voice system for communication Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life (he has three children and three grandchildren), and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures. He still hopes to make it into space one day.

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The pine marten is a large member of the Mustelid (weasel) family. Its preferred habitat is thick woodland or rocky hillsides, with dens frequently made in hollow logs or rock crevices, but also in rabbit burrows or the roofs of old buildings. They have large territories of
5 - 15 km² for females and perhaps twice as much for males.

Their diet is varied, consisting mainly of small rodents, birds, beetles, eggs and berries. Although agile enough to take squirrels, there is little evidence of them doing so in this country, although in Scandinavia this has been documented. The fox is both a predator of pine martens and a competitor for its food sources.

Found throughout Europe, in Britain they are primarily concentrated in the Scottish highlands and Grampians, with smaller populations in parts of northern England and Wales. Reintroduction in England and Wales has been advocated, but further study of their habitat needs and the likely impact on other species is needed before a formal programme could be carried out.

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Buzzards are the UKs most common large bird of prey, found mainly in the western half of the country but now increasing their range into the South. They live in all types of habitat from open farmland to uplands with wooded valleys.

Frequently seen soaring in groups high in the sky on hot air thermals while emitting a distinctive mewing cry, they have keen eyesight, eight times better than humans. They usually hunt from low perches such as gate posts and fences, feeding mainly on small mammals and other animals.

They are sometimes mobbed by gulls and crows who see them as a competitor for their food.

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England/National animal

Lion

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Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, which Constable began painting in 1830, shows the cathedral from the south-west, looking across the River Nadder from a point near a footbridge known as the Long Bridge. A team of three horses pulls a cart across the river from the left; cattle graze in the meadows in the right distance; and the centre foreground is occupied by a black and white sheepdog whose intent gaze is turned inwards towards the cathedral as if to direct the viewer towards the building or the storm that sweeps over it.

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Banksy is an anonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist and film director of unverified identity. Their satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique.

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Blackpool Tower

Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire in England which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. It is said to be the most famous seaside landmark in England.

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Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle has been a royal residence for over 900 years and today is one of the homes of Queen Elizabeth ll. The royal standard flies from the round tower of the Castle when the Queen is in residence.

Windsor Castle has dominated the river Thames for over 900 years. It was built by the Normans from timber and later rebuilt in stone.

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St Paul's Cathedral

The dome of St Paul's Cathedral is the second biggest dome in the world, after St Peter's in Rome.

The first St Paul's Cathedral was built in 604 AD but burnt down in 675. The rebuilt cathedral was again burnt down in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

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The London Eye

The London Eye, next to County Hall, is another of London’s most modern landmarks. It is the world’s biggest ferris wheel, and will carry 800 passengers at a time on a thirty-minute ride. From its highest point of 450 feet, it promises views of up to 25 miles.

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The royal family: The Queen is Head of State in the United Kingdom. As a constitutional monarch, Her Majesty does not 'rule' the country, but the royal family fulfils important ceremonial and formal roles with respect to Government.

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Law: There may be some differences between the law in your country and the law in the UK. For example, in the UK:

You must not use or carry any illegal drugs, including cannabis, ecstasy, LSD or amphetamines.

It is illegal to carry self-defence CS gas sprays, guns or stun guns. There are also very strict laws and penalties around carrying knives.

You must be aged 18 or over to buy tobacco and alcohol.

You should never buy property that you think might be stolen, no matter how tempting it seems.

It is illegal to drive a car without the correct driving licence and without car insurance. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is a serious offence. Find out more in this article: Travel in the UK

You can find out about UK law at the gov.uk website.

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Population: The population of the UK is estimated to be around 63 million (England: 53 million, Scotland: 5.3 million, Wales: 3 million, Northern Ireland: 1.8 million).

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Countryside: The UK’s long coastline is around 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometres). The geography ranges from green meadows and woodland to rugged moorland and mountains. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis in Scotland at just over 1,340 metres.

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Land area: The UK is close to 95,000 square miles (245,000 square kilometres), stretching from the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland, down to the Isles of Scilly in south west England, and across the sea to Northern Ireland.

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Language: English is spoken throughout the UK, but there are other official languages too, such as Welsh, Scots and Gaelic.

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Law: There may be some differences between the law in your country and the law in the UK. For example, in the UK:

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Money: The currency of the UK is pounds sterling.

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Famous English scientists include Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking among many others.

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St George, after whom the cross is named, was the patron saint of the country during the 1200’s. There were legends of this courageous saint’s having slain a vicious dragon. St George was a Roman soldier and a priest of the Guard of the Diocletian.

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England’s flag is represented by a red cross set on a white background. This cross is known as the St George’s Cross and has represented England is various forms from as far back as the Middle Ages and the Crusades

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People began building Stonehenge about 5,000 years ago, dragging each stone into place

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Nearly 84% of the population of the UK lives in England, mainly in the major cities and metropolitan areas.

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England is 74 times smaller than the USA,
59 times smaller than Australia and
3 times smaller than Japan.

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England is in Europe.
Capital city is London