Joanne Rowling is born to Peter and Ann Rowling in the British town of Chipping Sodbury. She has no middle initial.

After a 10-year battle with multiple sclerosis, Rowling's mother dies. This later affects the tone of the Potter books: "Harry's feelings about his dead parents had become much deeper, much more real."

While stuck on a delayed train between Manchester and London, Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter. She begins writing his story that night.

Now separated from her husband (they divorce in 1995), Rowling moves near her younger sister, Di, in Edinburgh, Scotland. She takes along her daughter and her ever-growing book manuscript.

Writing whenever she can, often in cafés, Rowling finishes her first book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Her literary agent warns her "You do realize, you will never make a fortune out of writing children's books?"

Several publishers reject the book, finding it to be too long and slow for children.

The first book in the series— Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone —is published in the United Kingdom. The first print run is 500 copies. Because Bloomsbury is afraid that young boys won't want to read a book by a woman, they suggest she use her initials. Joanne adds her grandmother's name, Kathleen, to her own, producing "J.K. Rowling."

Scholastic Books wins an auction for the U.S. rights to the series, giving Rowling an advance over $100,000, a record for a foreign children's book. She is able to quit her teaching job and devote her time to writing.

Scholastic publishes the first book, renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in the United States. The changes go beyond the title: illustrations are added to the start of each chapter, and British spelling, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary are translated into American English. The first print run is 50,000 copies.

The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, is published in the United Kingdom, with a first print run of over 10,000 copies.

1999