Real World Timeline


 * This is a timeline using modern years. For a middle earth timeline, see Timeline of Arda


 * late 1920s - Tolkien writes the words "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit" on the back of a term paper
 * September 21, 1937 - The Hobbit first published
 * 1937 - Tolkien starts "a new Hobbit"
 * 1949 - Tolkien finishes revising the Lord of the Rings
 * 1954 and 1955 - Lord of the Rings originally published in three volumes
 * 1956 - The BBC produced a 13-part radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings
 * 1977 - Silmarillion published; Rankin-Bass studios produced the first real film adaptation of any of Tolkien's works with an animated television version of The Hobbit.
 * 1980 animated television version of The Return of the King
 * In 1981 the BBC broadcast a new, ambitious dramatization of The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour instalments.
 * December 19, 2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring released
 * December 18, 2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers released
 * December 17, 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King released