Historical eventSeptember 211937
J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit, which later served as a prelude to The Lord of the Rings, was first published.
In context
- When
- Tuesday, September 21 193789 years ago
- Category
- Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Era
- 20th century · 1930s
- Recorded from
- Wikipedia “On this day” feed
At a glance
Dates: From 1937.
What happened
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer and academic philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955).
September 21 through the years
Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.
- 1937J. R. R. Tolkien
- 2001America: A Tribute to Heroes
- 2001Murder of Ross Parker
- 2003Galileo (spacecraft)
- 2004Green Day
- 2012Egyptians
- 2013Al-Shabaab (militant group)
- 2013Westgate shopping mall attack
- 2015AdventHealth
- 2018Zak Kostopoulos
- 20192019 Albania earthquake
Also in 1937
- September 13Chicago Public SchoolsChicago Public Schools began delivering lessons via radio amid to a polio outbreak, marking the first large-scale use of radio broadcasts…
- July 5Hormel FoodsThe Hormel Foods Corporation introduced Spam, the canned precooked meat product that would eventually enter into pop culture, folklore, a…
- July 9NitrocelluloseNitrate film being stored in a 20th Century Fox facility spontaneously combusted, destroying more than 40,000 reels of negatives and film…
- December 22Lincoln TunnelThe Lincoln Tunnel, connecting New York City to Weehawken, New Jersey, opened.
- October 5The Queen's College, OxfordSix days after retiring from the Queen's College, Oxford, Robert Howard Hodgkin was elected its provost due to the sudden death of B. H.…
- November 10Getúlio VargasBrazilian president Getúlio Vargas led a coup against his own constitutional government, establishing the dictatorial Estado Novo regime.
- December 3Rupert Bruce-MitfordRupert Bruce-Mitford, the spiritus rector of research on the Sutton Hoo ship burial, joined the British Museum.
- May 7Fleischer StudiosEmployees at Fleischer Studios in New York City went on strike in the animation industry's first major labor strike.
Sources
- Wikipedia article (text, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 for adapted text · how we source this
Cite this page
“J. R. R. Tolkien”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/j-r-r-tolkien-1937-september-21, accessed October 27, 2026.
Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.
Questions about this entry
When did J. R. R. Tolkien happen?
September 21 1937 — 89 years ago, on a Tuesday.
Where does this text come from?
Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.
How do I cite this page?
Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.
One entry a day, by email
The standout entry each morning. Kept for this site only.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.