J.R.R Tolkien was born in Bloemontein South Africa, on January third, 1892. In 1899, he took an entrance exam for King Edwards School, but was not excepted. In 1900, he re-took it, and passed. In 1903, he won a Foundation Scholarship to King Edwards School, and returned to continue his studies.
On December 17, 1910, he began his first term at Oxford. He was awarded an Open Classical Exhibiton to Exetor College. He took the Honours Mederations Exam, and was awarded a First Class Degree in English, Language, and Litirature. In 1916, he was chosen to be a Second-Lietenant in war. He married Edith Bratt on March 22 1916, just before he began to work on the Oxford Dictionary. He had 3 kids, John, Mike, and Chris.
He became a professor of English at Leeds, and in 1933, he begins to tell his kids about a character he made up, named Bilbo. He told them stories, and poems about him. He began to write a book about him, and completed it in 1936. It was called The Hobbit. In 1948, he continued this story, with The Lord of the Rings, which was completed in 1948. It wasn't published until 1954. He was awarded a CBE from the queen. During this time, he was working on a book called The Silmarillion. He died before he could present it to the world. He died in 1983, at the age of 81. The silmarillion was completed by his son Chris.
