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British scientist Stephen Hawking has decoded some of the most puzzling mysteries of the universe but he has left one mystery unsolved: How he has managed to survive so long with such a crippling disease. The physicist and cosmologist was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease when he was a 21-year-old student at Cambridge University. Most people die within a few years of the diagnosis, called motor neurone disease in the U.K. On Sunday, Hawking will turn 70.

It was a star-studded night -- and some barefoot dancing -- in the Rose Garden on Thursday.

A crush of fans circled a flower-graced mosaic in Central Park's Strawberry Fields and sang lyrics from "Imagine" on Saturday to honor Beatles legend John Lennon on his 70th birthday.

The onetime Beatle's cheeky writing efforts are being re-released this month in an omnibus edition to mark what would have been his 70th birthday Oct. 9.

Home alone, President Obama turned 49 Wednesday.