Early 1960s
Father, Peter, a chartered engineer for Rolls Royce in Bristol, England, meets mother, Anne, a half-French, half-Scottish lab technician, on a train from KING'S CROSS station in London. He proposes to her on another train.
July 1965
Joanne Kathleen Rowling is born at Chipping Sodbury General Hospital in Gloucestershire.
1971
Rowling, age six, writes first story, about a rabbit who gets the measles. The family moves from Yate to Winterbourne, near Bristol, where Rowling, nine, and her younger sister, Di, play with a gang of children in their street, including a brother and sister named POTTER. Ian Potter plays lots of tricks--hides SLUGS on picnic plates and booby-traps the training wheels on sister Vikki Potter's bike. Heeven gets Jo, Di and Vikki to run through wet concrete. The girls love dressing up as WITCHES. [Ian is now a damp-proofing technician in Yate. Vikki is now a software-company sales director.]
1974
Family moves to Tutshill, near Chepstow in Wales. Rowling hates new school, but adores reading E. Nesbit, Noel Streatfield, Paul Gallico's Manxmouse, C.S. Lewis' Narnia series and Elizabeth Goudge's Little White Horse. Writes her own story about seven cursed diamonds.
1976
Starts at Wyedean Comprehensive, not a private school, although nearby Wyedean School has Houses named Armstrong, Bannister, Chichester and Hillary. Her best and oldest "foulweather friend" is Sean Harris (the basis for RON WEASLEY). Tells friends long stories during lunch breaks. Later describes self at this time as a pudding-faced child with glasses (the basis for HERMIONE) "a snotty, swotty little kid" and very insecure until she gets contact lenses. Becomes a big fan of Jane Austen.
1980
Mother diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
1982
Rowling becomes Head Girl, or lead pupil, at Wyedean Comprehensive.
1983
Goes to University of Exeter to study French and classics. Starts collecting odd names in earnest.
1985
Spends one year in Paris as teaching assistant as part of degree.
1987
Graduates, then works briefly as a research assistant for Amnesty International and shares a flat in Clapham, South London. Writes during lunch hours in pubs and cafes. At least two novels for adults are conceived at this time.
1988
Secretarial work in Manchester, but hates it. Uses time to type stories on computer.
1990
On a delayed train journey from Manchester to KING'S CROSS in London, Harry Potter the character strides "fully formed" into her head, and she starts to create the whole world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry around him. Unfortunately, she has no pen or paper, so she commits it all to memory.
1990
Mother dies at age 45 from multiple sclerosis.
1991
Rowling, 26, goes off to teach English as a foreign language in Oporto, Portugal. Writes ten different first chapters for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Invents names of Hogwarts Houses on the back of an airsickness bag.
1992
Marries Portuguese television journalist.
1993
Gives birth to daughter, Jessica, named after Rowling's idol, author and activist Jessica Mitford. Christmas 1993: Divorces; returns to Britain with baby Jessica; heads for Edinburgh, Scotland, where sister Di lives, carrying half a suitcase of Harry Potter stories. Di, who used to be a nurse, is studying law. One month after her return, British Prime Minister John Major makes a speech about single mothers being at the root of society's ills.
1994
Tells Di the story of Harry Potter. Fortunately, Di loves it. Rowling is caught in a classic poverty trap--living in one-bedroom flat, can't get a place in state-sponsored day care for Jessica, and can't afford private child care without a job. Experiences brief period of severe depression (inspiring the DEMENTORS who suck happy memories from mortals and drive them to despair). Gets by on income support of #69 ($105) per week. Skips meals to save money for Jessica. Writes Harry Potter on notepads in cafes around Edinburgh, fueled by the occasional espresso while Jessica naps in her buggy. Continues scribbling in evenings. "I really wrote it entirely for myself."
1995
Finishes writing book and types manuscript on old #40 ($63) typewriter. Can't afford to photocopy the manuscript, so types it out all over again. Goes to library and looks up the names of agents and publishers. Sends manuscript to two agents and one publisher.
1996
Works as French teacher while waiting to hear about her manuscript. Agent Christopher Little finds the right publisher, Bloomsbury.
February 1997 Scottish Arts Council gives her a record grant for a children's author, #8,000 ($13,000). Rowling buys a computer in order to finish the second book.
June 1997
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is published in Britain.
September 1997
An auction in New York sees the U.S. rights to the book eventually bought for $105,000, an unheard-of amount for a children's author. Rowling buys #100 ($160) jacket to wear for interviews.
July 1998
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets published in Britain.
July 1999
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban published in Britain, knocking Thomas Harris' Hannibal out of the No. 1 spot on the bestseller list. The New York Times has Harry Potter books in the top three positions on its bestseller list. An unprecedented feat. Warner Bros. buys the film rights to the first two books. Rowling demands that they be live-action movies, not animations, and that she have script approval. She says that she's particularly looking forward to seeing Quidditch matches on the big screen and she hopes that Hagrid will be played by Robbie Coltrane. Mattel Inc., of Barbie fame, buys the merchandising rights to Harry Potter.
2000
Rowling makes Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list as the 24th-highest celebrity earner in the world, having earned $40 million in 1999, just after Michael Jordan and just ahead of Cher, and easily beating fellow scribes Grisham, Koontz and Crichton. Steve Kloves, director of The Fabulous Baker Boys, starts writing screenplay for the movie.
March 2000
Worldwide sales of the first three Harry Potter books stand at 30 million in 35 languages.
July 2000
Book four, tentatively titled Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament, to be published simultaneously in Britain and the United States!
Summer 2001
The movie based on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone released.
Fall 2002
The 2nd movie based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets released.