Barack Obama presents Stephen Hawking with Medal of Freedom - Daily Mail

Professor Stephen Hawking died peacefully in Cambridge this morning after a long battle with motor neurone disease, his family has revealed. His second wife Elaine, his former nurse who he married in 1995 (right) but divorced in 2006, believes death would have been a 'relief' for her former husband, who she claims proposed to her twice after they split up. Today the last known pictures of the eminent scientist emerged and showed him out enjoying dinner in Mayfair with friends just before Christmas (main picture) and his children Lucy (bottom left) and Tim (inset) were seen for the first time as they visited his home today. They said in a statement: ‘He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years'. Professor Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 when he was 21 and he defied medical experts who said he would be dead within two years. In the following 55 years he became the world's most famous scientist since Albert Einstein for his work exploring the mysteries of space, time and black holes. Original Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5498269/Professor-Stephen-Hawking-dead-76.html Original Video: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1648224/Video-Barack-Obama-presents-Stephen-Hawking-Medal-Freedom.html Daily Mail Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailymail Daily Mail IG: http://instagram.com/dailymail Daily Mail Snap: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/Daily-Mail/8392137033 Daily Mail Twitter: http://twitter.com/MailOnline Daily Mail Pinterest: http://pinterest.co.uk/dailymail Daily Mail Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DailyMail/posts Get the free Daily Mail mobile app: http://dailymail.co.uk/mobile