J. R. R. Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein. An English writer and philologist, Tolkien fought in the First World War and later became a professor of Anglo-Saxon and then of English language and literature at Oxford. He is best known for the fantasy novels The Hobbit, published in 1937, and The Lord of the Rings, which appeared in the mid-1950s and are set in the invented world of Middle-earth. He created languages, including Elvish tongues, and a detailed mythology, published after his death as The Silmarillion. A member of the Inklings literary group with C. S. Lewis, he shaped modern fantasy, and his books have been adapted into highly successful films.
Before and after
- 10 December 1891Birth of Nelly Sachs
- 21 December 1891James Naismith invents basketball
- 1892Founding of National Library of Israel
- 1892The Nutcracker
- 3 January 1892Birth of J. R. R. Tolkien
- 26 March 1892Death of Walt Whitman
- 8 April 1892Birth of Mary Pickford
- 3 May 1892Birth of George Paget Thomson
- 7 May 1892Birth of Josip Broz Tito
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1 November 1800Construction of White House
- c. 1900sRise of Expressionism
- c. 1900sRise of modernism
- 1907Rise of cubism
- c. 1910sRise of Dada
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.
