This is a chronology of real-world events. For a Middle-earth timeline, see Timeline of Arda
- 1892 — John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is born on January 3, in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
- 1914 - J.R.R. Tolkien starts writing Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners poem.
- 1915 - J.R.R. Tolkien writes first extant manuscript of Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners poem. First version of The City of the Gods poem published as Kôr: In a City Lost and Dead.
- 1916 — J.R.R. Tolkien marries Edith Bratt on March 22. In June, he is assigned to the Lancaster Fusiliers and sent to France.
- 1917 — Edith Tolkien gives birth to John.
- 1918 — First draft of "The Fall of Gondolin" is completed.
- 1920 — Edith Tolkien gives birth to Michael. Rewritten version of The Happy Mariners poem is published.
- 1921 — J.R.R. Tolkien begins teaching at the University of Leeds.
- 1923 - The City of the Gods poem is published. Altered version of Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners poem is published.
- 1924 — Edith Tolkien gives birth to Christopher. J.R.R. accepts a position as Professor of English Language at Leeds.
- 1925 — July - J.R.R. Tolkien is elected to the Rawlinson and Bosworth Chair of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford. He is admitted to a non-stipendiary professorial fellowship at Pembroke College in October 1926. His edition (with E.V. Gordon) of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is published.
- 1926 — The Tolkiens move into 22 Northmoor Rd, Oxford in January. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis first meet.
- Sometimes in the late 1920s—Tolkien writes the words "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit" on the back of a term paper. He does not know what they mean.
- 1928 — J.R.R. Tolkien writes The Bumpus as the first version of the poem Perry-the-Winkle: A Nursery Rhyme in the House of Master Samwise
- 1929 — Edith Tolkien gives birth to Priscilla.
- 1933 — The first stories of a hobbit named Bilbo appear at the Tolkien house.
- 1936 — J.R.R. Tolkien completes The Hobbit and delivers it to Stanley Unwin. He also delivers his seminal lecture, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics to the British Association.
- 1937 — The Hobbit is published by Allen & Unwin.
- 1938 — J.R.R. Tolkien writes Leaf by Niggle.
- 1939 — J.R.R. Tolkien delivers his lecture, On Fairy-stories.
- 1945 — "Leaf by Niggle" is published. J.R.R. Tolkien is elected to the Merton Chair of English Language and Literature in the University of Oxford.
- 1949 — Farmer Giles of Ham is published.
- 1954 — The Lord of the Rings is published. Only the first two volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, are released this year.
- 1955 — The Return of the King, the final volume of The Lord of the Rings, is published. The BBC produces a 13-part radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.
- 1956 — The BBC radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings continues.
- 1959 — J.R.R. Tolkien retires his professorship at Oxford.
- 1962 — The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is published.
- 1964 — Tree and Leaf, an anthology consisting of On Fairy-stories and a revised Leaf by Niggle, is published.
- 1965 — American paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings is published.
- 1966 — The Tolkien Reader is published.
- 1967 — Publication of both The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle and Smith of Wootton Major.
- 1968 — BBC radio broadcasts an eight-part (4-hour) adaptation of The Hobbit. Tolkien originally sold the film, stage and merchandise rights of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists but nothing came of it. The Tolkien family moves to Poole near Bournesmouth.
- 1969 — Bored of the Rings is published.
- 1971 — Edith Tolkien dies on November 29. Parma Eldalamberon 1 is released.
- 1972 — J.R.R. Tolkien named CBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1973 — J.R.R. Tolkien dies on September 2.
- 1974 — Parma Eldalamberon 4 is released.
- 1976 — The rights to The Lord of the Rings are sold to Tolkien Enterprises, a division of the Saul Zaentz Company.
- 1977 — The Silmarillion is published posthumously, edited by Christopher Tolkien. Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay is credited with assisting Christopher. Rankin-Bass studios produced the first real film adaptation of any of Tolkien's works with an animated television version of The Hobbit.
- 1978 — Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings animated film is released by United Artists.
- 1979 — A Tolkien Bestiary by David Day is published.
- 1980 — Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, a collection of essays about Middle-earth edited by Christopher Tolkien, is published (unofficially part of the The History of Middle-earth collection). An animated television version of The Return of the King airs.
- 1981 — BBC broadcasts a new, ambitious dramatization of The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour installments. The original publication of Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-earth. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien are first published in book form.
- 1982 — Mr. Bliss is published.
- 1984 — The Book of Lost Tales Part One is published, the first volume of The History of Middle-earth collection and The Book of Lost Tales Part Two.
- 1985 — The Lays of Beleriand is published (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 1986 — The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta, and The Annals is published (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 1987 — The Lost Road and Other Writings is published (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 1988 — The second edition of Tree and Leaf, which added the poem Mythopoeia, is published. The Annotated Hobbit (annotated by Douglas A. Anderson) is published.
- 1989 — The Return of the Shadow and The Treason of Isengard are published (both later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 1990 — The War of the Ring is published (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 1991 — A revised addition of Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-earth is published.
- 1992 — Sauron Defeated is published (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 1993 — J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography (by Wayne G. Hammond & Douglas A. Anderson) and Morgoth's Ring (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection) are published.
- 1994 — The War of the Jewels (later part of the The History of Middle-earth collection) are published.
- 1995 — J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator (by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull with illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien) is published. Parma Eldalamberon XI: I·Lam na·Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of The Gnomish Tongue is released.
- 1996 — The Peoples of Middle-earth is published.
- 1998 — Roverandom is finally published.
- 2000 — The Lord of the Rings board game is published. Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth (by various Tolkien scholars) is published
- 2001 — The third edition of Tree and Leaf, which added the short poem The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son, is published.
- 2001 — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of three motion-picture films directed by Peter Jackson, premieres on December 19.
- 2002 — The Complete Tolkien Companion and The History of Middle-earth: Index, the last in the The History of Middle-earth are published. HarperCollins publishes a single, three-volume set of The History of Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers premieres on December 18. The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Adventure Game is published.
- 2003 — Quettaparma is published. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King premieres on December 17. Fell Beasts and Wondrous Magic (a supplement to The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game) is published.
- 2004 — The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King films receives 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.
- 2005 — The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion (by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull) is published.
- 2006 — The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull) is published.
- 2007 — The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End and Christopher Tolkien's The Children of Húrin are published. Parma Eldalamberon XVII: Words, Phrases and Passages in various tongues in The Lord of the Rings is released.
- 2008 — Of Words and Worlds: The Imagination and Subcreation of J.R.R. Tolkien (by Mark J.P. Wolf) is published.
- 2009 - Parma Eldalamberon XVIII: Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2 is released.
- 2010 — Parma Eldalamberon XIX: Quenya Phonology is released.
- 2011 — The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull with illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien) is published.
- 2012 — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first film in a trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit by Peter Jackson, is released. On Tolkien: Interviews, Reminiscences, and Other Essays (by Marjorie Burns & Douglas A. Anderson) is published. Parma Eldalamberon XX: The Qenya Alphabet is released.
- 2013 — The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is released. Parma Eldalamberon XXI: Qenya Noun Structure is released.
- 2014 — The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is released.
- 2015 — The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull with illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien) is published. Parma Eldalamberon XXII: The Feanorian Alphabet, Part 1 and Quenya Verb Structure is released.
- 2017 — Beren and Lúthien is published by Christopher Tolkien.
- 2018 — The Fall of Gondolin, the last of the Great Tales, is published by Christopher Tolkien.
- 2021 — The Nature of Middle-earth is published (unofficially part of the The History of Middle-earth collection).
- 2022 — The Fall of Númenor is published. On August 18, then Embracer Group acquired rights to literary works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. On September 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season One premiered on Amazon Prime Video.
- 2023 - On May 25, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum video game is released. On October 24, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria video game is released.
- 2024 — The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien is published. On August 29, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season Two premiered also on Amazon Prime Video. On December 3, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim premiered in in London with wider release following a few days later.
- 2043 — Tolkien's published works will remain copyrighted until this year.