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The legendary boffin's children confirmed the national tressure died in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

His children Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today.

“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.

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“His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world.“He once said, ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever.”

The Cambridge physicist was widely considered one of the brightest people in the world.

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He became an international star after he published "A brief History of Time", which covered the Big Bang and mysterious black holes.

Stephen was wheelchair-bound for most of his life after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease – a dibilitatng illness that effectiely paralyses the body.

He was given just two years to live after he first began treatment when he was 21, back in 1963.

Born in Oxford on January 8 1942 - 300 years after the death of astronomer Galileo Galilei - Prof Hawking grew up in St Albans.

He had a difficult time at the local public school and was persecuted as a "swot" who was more interested in jazz, classical music and debating than sport and pop.

Although not top of the class, he was good at maths and "chaotically enthusiastic in chemistry".

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As an undergraduate at Oxford, the young Hawking was so good at physics that he got through with little effort.

He later calculated that his work there "amounted to an average of just an hour a day" and commented: "I'm not proud of this lack of work, I'm just describing my attitude at the time, which I shared with most of my fellow students.

"You were supposed to be brilliant without effort, or to accept your limitations and get a fourth-class degree."

Daily Star Online has produced a timeline of the late professor's extraordinary life.