Simonetta Carr - J.R.R. Tolkien for Kids: His Life and Writings, with 21 Activities

1892

January 3, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien born in Bloemfontein, South Africa

1894

February 17, Tolkiens younger brother, Hilary, is born

1895

Mabel Tolkien returns to England with her two boys

1896

February 15, Arthur Tolkien dies in Bloemfontein

Mabel Tolkien rents a cottage near Sarehole Mill, Moseley, near Birmingham

1900

Mabel accepted into the Roman Catholic Church

Ronald enrolls in King Edwards School

1904

Mabel diagnosed with diabetes and dies in November

Tolkien boys become wards of Father Morgan at the Birmingham Oratory

1905

Aunt Beatrice Suffield takes the boys into her home

1908

Tolkien boys move into a boarding house run by Mrs. Faulkner

Ronald meets Edith Bratt, another young lodger

1909

Father Francis Morgan discovers the romance between Ronald and Edith

1910

Tolkien brothers move to new lodgings

Edith Bratt moves to Cheltenham

1911

Start of the Tea Club and Barrovian Society

Tolkien begins his studies at Oxford

1913

Ronald writes to Edith on his 21st birthday, and they become engaged

1915

Tolkien applies for a temporary commission in the army and is posted to the 13th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, a reserve training unit

1916

March 22, Ronald and Edith married in Warwick

July 1, Tolkien, reassigned to the 11th Batallion, fights in World War I at the Battle of the Somme, France

November, Tolkien returns to England to recover from trench fever

1917

Tolkien works on The Book of Lost Tales

November 16, the Tolkiens eldest son, John, is born

1918

Tolkien joins staff of the Oxford English Dictionary

1920

Tolkien appointed Reader in English Language at Leeds University

October 22, the Tolkiens second son, Michael, is born

1921

Edith, John, and Michael, join Tolkien at Leeds

1924

November 21, the Tolkiens third son, Christopher, is born

1925

Tolkien elected professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford

1926

Tolkiens family joins him at Oxford

Tolkien befriends C. S. Lewis.

1929

June 18, Tolkiens daughter, Priscilla, is born

1930

Tolkien begins work on The Hobbit

1937

The Hobbit is published

Tolkien begins work on a sequel, The Lord of the Rings

1945

Tolkien becomes Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford

1949

Tolkien finishes writing The Lord of the Rings

1954

The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers are published

1955

The Return of the King is published

1956

The Two Towers and The Return of the King air on BBC radio

1959

Tolkien retires from teaching

1968

The Tolkiens move to Poole, near Bournemouth

1971

Edith Tolkien dies

1972

March, Tolkien returns to Oxford and receives his CBE from the Queen

June, Oxford University awards Tolkien an honorary Doctorate of Letters

1973

September 2, Tolkien dies from a stomach ulcer