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= This page contains plotline points and has spoilers.
= This page contains plotline points and has spoilers.
Please direct any feedback to jcgh [at] ymail [dot] com. Thanks!
Parchment
Wood
| 1965 |
July 31Joanne Rowling is born to Peter and Ann Rowling. At the time, she has no middle initial. |
| 1990 |
Some Time Before DecemberWhile Jo (Joanne Rowling) is on a train from Manchester to London, the idea of a boy wizard, who she later names Harry Potter, comes to her.December 30Jo's mother, who had not been informed about Harry Potter, dies after ten years of fighting a disease. This affects Harry's feelings about his dead parents as Jo now knew the sensation. |
| 1995 | Jo, who now has a two-year-old daughter, finishes writing the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Her literary agent (wrongly) warns her how little she can make from writing childrens' books. |
| 1996 |
OctoberAfter many publisher's give her the thumbs-down on her book, Bloomsbury Press finally accepts it, giving her a £4,000 advance. |
| 1997 |
SpringScholastic Books wins an auction for the rights for Harry Potter in the US, giving Rowling a whopping $100, 000.June 26The first Harry Potter book is published in the UK, with an initial print run of 500 copies. Bloomsbury suggests that Rowling uses her initals so that young boys won't be afraid of reading a book by a woman. Rowling uses her grandmother's name for her middle initial, Kathleen.The book is instantly a best-seller. |
| 1998 |
July 2JKR writes and publishes the second Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) in the UK.September 1Changing the title from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic publishes the first Harry Potter book in the US. Illustrations are added, font size is bigger, and grammar is made to suit American spellings. |
| 1999 |
JuneThe second Harry Potter book is published early in the US. (It was originally scheduled to release in September.)JulyThe third Harry Potter book, titled Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is published in the UK. It sells 68,000 copies in just the first two days.SeptemberAhead of schedule (again), the third Harry Potter book is published in the US |
| 2000 |
Late MarchChris Columbus is chosen to direct the first Harry Potter film, to be produced by Warner Bros.JulyThe fourth Harry Potter book is released in the US and the UK, with a record-setting combined initial print run of 5 million copies. Many are suprised at how much longer this book is than it's predecessors.AugustDaniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are chosen to play Harry, Ron, and Hermione, respectively. |
| 2001 |
MarchTwo "schoolbooks" from Harry's world are published with Comic Relief to aid poverts. They imitate Hogwarts books, complete with comedic notes in the margins.November 16The first Harry Potter film is released, grossing $90,000,000 in the US and £16,000,000 in the UK, setting records in BOTH countries |
| 2002 |
October 25Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore during the first and second films, dies. Fortunately, the second movie was already completed.NovemberThe second film, once again directed by Chris Columbus, is released, making $88,000,000 in the US (third-highest gross, behind SpiderMan and the first film) and £19,000,000 in the UK, setting another record for the UK. |
| 2003 |
June 21JKR, with another child now, publishes the fifth installment in the Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's the longest book in the series by far, about 3 times the size of the first book. With a 6.4 million copy initial print run in the US alone, it sets another record. |
| 2004 |
MayThe third film is made, this time directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Making £5.3 million in just one day in the UK and making £23.9 million on the opening weekend, it sets yet another record. Four days later, in the US, it gains $93.7 million, coming in third - again. |
| 2005 |
July
Sporting a third child, JKR publishes Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the first and only book in the series to be shorter than the one before it. A record-smashing 10.8 million copy initial print run is in place.
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| 2007 |
July 11The fifth Harry Potter film is released, with a new screenwriter (Mike Newell) and a new director (David Yates) and a new length (really short, compared to the other films).July 21The seventh - and final - Harry Potter book is released. Entitled "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", it smashes the records set by the previous books. In the UK, it's exactly the same length as the book before it. |
| 2008 |
NovemberIt used to be the release date of the sixth movie, but alas, WB pushed it back to July, 2009.DecemberThe Tales of Beedle the Bard will be released. It's another Harry Potter Universe book, like the two released earlier. |
