20th Century

From UnknowableWiki

Timeline
Ancient Egypt • Ancient China • Ancient Greece • Ancient Britain and Ireland • Founder Era • Middle Ages
1000s • 1100s • 1200s • 1300s • 1400s • 1500s • 1600s • 1700s • 1800s • 1900s • 2000s

At some point between the end of the 1900s and the early 1920s...

• Roderick Plumpton leads the Tutshill Tornados to five British and Irish Quidditch League Cup wins in a row, setting a new record in the history of the tournament (FW, QA7).

1927 to 1938:

• Tom Marvolo Riddle grows up in a Muggle orphanage in London. He is strange even as a baby an hardly ever cries. When he gets older, the other children are scared of him because odd things happen to those who cross him. Tom learns that he can do magic and talk to snakes; he gains some control over his powers and uses them to bully others, collecting trinkets and keepsakes from his victims. One summer, the orphans are taken for a visit to the sea. Tom takes Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop to explore a cave nearby and presumably tortures them (HBP13).

Around 1936 to 1943 (give or take a couple of years)...

• Minerva McGonagall attends Hogwarts. She is Sorted into Gryffindor (JKRW, ABC).^[1]

1938 to 1945...

• Tom Marvolo Riddle attends Hogwarts. He is Sorted into Slytherin (PS5, HBP17). He shows no outward signs of cruelty or arrogance at school. A handsome and talented orphan, he becomes a favourite with the staff, except for Albus Dumbledore, who distrusts him. Tom collects a group of followers around him, some of whom become the first Death Eaters after leaving school. He tries to find evidence that his ancestors were wizards. After learning that his father was a Muggle, he sheds the name "Tom Riddle" and creates the pseudonym "Lord Voldemort", which he first uses with his circle of followers. A number of nasty incidents occur during his school years (including the opening of the Chamber of Secrets in 1943), but none can be linked back to him or his group (HBP17).

Contents 1 1900s 1.1 1900 1.2 1901 1.3 1902 1.4 1903 1.5 1904 1.6 1906 1.7 1907 2 1910s 2.1 1910 2.2 1911 2.3 1912 2.4 1915 2.5 1916 2.6 1917 2.7 1918 2.8 1919 3 1920s 3.1 1920 3.2 1921 3.3 1922 3.4 1925 3.5 1926 3.6 1927 3.7 1928 3.8 1929 4 1930s 4.1 1930 4.2 1931 4.3 1932 4.4 1934 4.5 1935 4.6 1936 4.7 1937 4.8 1938 4.9 1939 5 1940s 6 1950s 7 1960s 8 1970s 9 1980s 10 1990s 11 Timeline inconsistencies 11.1 Ariana's death 11.2 Pollux Black 11.3 Dorea and Charlus Potter 12 Footnotes

1900s

Full article: 1900s

1900

Perpetua Fancourt, inventor of the Lunascope, is born (FW).

In summer, according to Elphias Doge (it is more likely that these events occur in the summer of 1899)^{see inconsistencies}

• Aberforth Dumbledore accuses his brother Albus and Gellert Grindelwald of neglecting their mentally unstable sister Ariana. Gellert uses the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth, Albus tries to stop him and Ariana has an uncontrolled magical outburst. She dies; nobody knows who killed her. Grindelwald flees hours after her death. At Ariana's funeral, Aberforth breaks Albus' nose and blames him for her death (DH2, DH8, DH18, DH28).

1901

Arcturus Black, husband of Melania McMillan and father of Lucretia and Orion, is born (BFT).

Gladys Boothby makes the Moontrimmer, a broomstick that is popular among Quidditch players due to its ability to fly safely at higher altitudes than previous brooms. However, Boothby is not able to mass-produce the brooms (QA9).

1902

A performance of Musidora Barkwith's Wizarding Suite, which features an exploding tuba, blows off the roof of the Ackerley Town Hall. All performances of Wizarding Suite are thereafter banned (FW).

1903

Tilly Toke, the witch who performed the largest batch of Memory Charms of the 20th century during the Ilfracombe Incident of 1932, is born (FW).

Roland Kegg, the president of the English Gobstones team, is born (FW).

Faris Spavin is replaced as Minister for Magic (W3).

1904

Lycoris Black, son of Sirius and Hesper Black, is born (BFT).

Dorcas Wellbeloved, the founder of the Society for Distressed Witches, dies (FW).

1906

Regulus Black, son of Sirius and Hesper Black, is born (BFT).

1907

Merope Gaunt, the mother of Lord Voldemort, is born (HBP10).

1910s

Full article: 1910s

1910

Leopoldina Smethwyck, the first British witch to referee a Quidditch match, dies (FW).

1911

Jocelind Wadcock, Chaser for the Puddlemere United Quidditch team, is born (FW).

1912

Pollux Black, husband of Irma Crabbe and father of Walburga, Alphard and Cygnus, is born (BFT).^{see inconsistencies}

Derwent Shimpling, a wizard comedian famous for eating an entire Venomous Tentacula, is born (FW).

1915

If Newt Scamander was born before September 1, then this is the year he graduates from Hogwarts and joins the Office for House-Elf Relocation at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (FBa).

Cassiopeia Black, daughter of Cygnus and Violetta, is born (BFT).

Callidora Black, daughter of Arcturus and Lysandra, is born (BFT).

Jocunda Sykes, the first witch to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on a broomstick, is born (FW).

1916

If Newt Scamander was born after September 1, then this is the year he graduates from Hogwarts and joins the Office for House-Elf Relocation at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (FBa).

1917

Celestina Warbeck, a famous singer in the wizarding world, is born (FW).

At some point between late August and December:

• Frank Bryce, the Riddles' gardener at Little Hangleton, is born (GF1).

1918

Augustus Worme of Obscurus Books commissions Newt Scamander to write a compendium of magical creatures (FBi).

February 28

• Real World: Alfred Burke, the actor who plays Armando Dippet in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie, is born.

1919

Charis Black, daughter of Arcturus and Lysandra, is born (BFT).

1920s

Full article: 1920s

October 4, around 1924 (give or take a couple of years):

• Minerva McGonagall is born (JKRW, ABC).^[1]

At some point before 1929...

• Randolph Keitch and Basil Horton start playing for the Falmouth Falcons (QA9).

1920

Dorea Black, the wife of Charlus Potter and possibly James' mother, is born (BFT).^{see inconsistencies}

Blenheim Stalk, Muggle expert and author of Muggles Who Notice, is born (FW).

September 27:

• Real World: Margery Mason, the actress who plays the part of the Food Trolley Lady in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, is born.

1921

Famous Tutshill Tornados Seeker Roderick Plumpton catches the Snitch three and a half seconds into a game against the Caerphilly Catapults, setting a British record that has not been broken since (FW, QA7).

Miranda Goshawk, the author of The Standard Book of Spells textbook series, is born (FW).

1922

Carlotta Pinkstone, a witch campaigning for the lift of the Statute of Secrecy, is born (FW).

1925

Walburga Black, mother of Sirius and Regulus, is born (BFT).

Lucretia Black, the daughter of Arcturus and Melania Black, is born (BFT).

Phineas Nigellus Black, one of the most unpopular Hogwarts headmasters, dies (BFT).

Summer:

• Late in the evening, Morfin Gaunt sees his sister Merope spying on Muggle Tom Riddle. He hexes Tom when he rides past the Gaunt Shack, causing him to erupt in painful hives.
• The Ministry of Magic discovers this breach of the Statute of Secrecy and presumably Obliviates and cures Tom.
• On the following day, Bob Ogden, the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, visits the Gaunts in Little Hangleton to summon Morfin to a hearing on September 14. During his visit, Marvolo Gaunt tries to strangle Merope for showing interest in a Muggle. Ogden stops him and is attacked by Morfin. He flees, returning fifteen minutes later with reinforcements. Morfin and Marvolo are arrested; Marvolo wounds several Ministry employees during the fight.
• The Wizengamot sentences Morfin to three years, Marvolo to six months at Azkaban (HBP10).

October 29:

• Real World: Robert Hardy, the actor who plays the part of Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter movies, is born.

Around the end of the year:

• While her father and brother are in Azkaban, Merope Gaunt uses magic to make Muggle Tom Riddle fall in love with her, presumably by brewing a love potion. Tom and Merope run off together and get married (HBP10).

1926

The Ollerton brothers Bill, Bob and Barnaby found the Cleansweep Broom Company. It is the first company that mass-produces broomsticks. They release the Cleansweep One, the first model to be marketed as a racing broom solely for sporting events; it guarantees the Cleansweep Broom Company a monopoly on the racing broom market until 1929 (QA9).

Around early spring:

• After six months, Marvolo Gaunt is released from Azkaban. He is greatly weakened. When he returns to the Gaunt shack, he finds Merope's farewell note. He never mentions her name again. He dies within the next two and a half years, before Morfin's return (HBP10).

From the end of March to December:

• Merope gets pregnant. Shortly afterwards, she lifts the enchantment (presumably a love potion) she placed on her husband. Tom Riddle leaves her and returns to Little Hangleton (HBP10). Merope stays in London. She stops using magic and sinks into poverty. Shortly before Christmas, she sells Slytherin's locket to Caractacus Burke, who pays her ten Galleons, a fragment of its true value (HBP13).

December 31:

• In the evening, Merope goes to a Muggle orphanage. She gives birth about an our after her arrival and names her son Tom Marvolo Riddle, after his father and grandfather. She dies within the next hour. The child stays at the orphanage (HBP13).

1927

Nine years after Augustus Worme commissioned Newt Scamander to write a handbook of magical creatures, the first edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is published by Obscurus Books. It is a huge success (FBi).

1928

Summer:

• After a three-year sentence, Morfin Gaunt is released from Azkaban. His father Marvolo and sister Merope are both deceased. Morfin stays alone at the Gaunt shack (HBP10, HBP17).

December 6:

• Rubeus Hagrid, son of a wizard and the giantess Fridwulfa, is born (JKRW, CS13, GF24).

1929

Falmouth Falcons players Randolph Keitch and Basil Horton patent the Horton-Keitch braking charm and found the Comet Trading Company. The release of the Comet 140 breaks the Cleansweep Broom Company's monopoly on the racing broom market (QA9).

Orion Black, father of Sirius and Regulus, is born (BFT).

Cygnus Black, father of Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa, is born (BFT).

September 18:

• Real World: Elizabeth Spriggs, the actress who plays the Fat Lady in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone movie, is born.

1930s

Full article: 1930s

In this decade...

• The Cleansweep Broom Company and the Comet Trading Company are locked in a fierce competition over dominance of the racing broom market. Cleansweep has lost its monopoly with the release of the Comet 140 in 1929 and it takes the company until 1934 to retaliate and release the Cleansweep Two. The Cleansweep Three follows in 1937, and the Comet 180 in 1938. In the meantime, other broomstick companies are founded all over Europe (QA9).

1930

January 24:

• Real World: Terence Bayler, the actor who plays the Bloody Baron in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone movie, is born.

October 1:

• Real World: Richard Harris, the actor who plays Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, is born.

1931

Elladora Black, a great-great aunt of Sirius who started the Blacks' tradition of beheading house-elves, dies (OP6).

1932

Erica Stainwright, a witch famous for selling cleaning potions that only create more dirt, is born (WM).

Oswald Beamish, a wizard known for greatly improving goblin rights, dies (FW).

The Vratsa Vultures win the European Cup. A short time later, they lose a match against the Appleby Arrows. The game, which lasts for sixteen days due to bad weather conditions, is known as the Arrows' most famous victory (QA7).

The giantess Fridwulfa leaves Mr. Hagrid and their half-giant son Rubeus (GF23).^[2]

Summer (presumably):

• In the so-called Ilfracombe Incident of 1932, a Common Welsh Green swoops down upon a crowded beach near Ilfracombe, Devon, England. Luckily, the witch Tilly Toke and her family are among the sunbathing Muggles. They are able to prevent any fatalities and perform a mass Memory Charm that makes sure that the existence of dragons remains hidden from Muggles.
• All family members are awarded with the Order of Merlin, First Class.
• Some Muggles apparently escape the charm. A Muggle called Dodgy Dirk is known to talk of a "'dirty great flying lizard' that punctured his lilo" in bars along the south coast (FBi).

1934

The Cleansweep Broom Company releases the Cleansweep Two, a racing broomstick designed to rival the success of the Comet Trading Company's Comet 140 (QA9).

December 28:

• Real World: Maggie Smith, the actress who plays Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, is born.

1935

Bertie Bott, inventor of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, is born (FW).

Jocunda Sykes is the first witch to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on a broomstick, using an Oakshaft 79 (FW, QA9).

March 27:

• Real World: Julian Glover, the actor who provides the voice of Aragog in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie, is born.

August 30:

• Real World: Peter Cartwright, the actor who plays Elphias Doge in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie, is born.

1936

Hambledon Quince, the author of the polemic theory that wizards originate from Mars and Muggles from mushrooms, is born (WM).

1937

The Cleansweep Broom Company releases the Cleansweep Three (QA9).

1938

The Comet Trading Company releases the Comet 180 (QA9).

January 4:

• Real World: Jim Norton, the actor who plays Mr. Mason in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie, is born.

Summer:

• Albus Dumbledore, Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, goes to visit Tom Marvolo Riddle at the Muggle orphanage to give him his Hogwarts letter. He talks to the matron, Mrs. Cole, who tells him that Tom is a strange child and is glad to get rid of him. Albus talks to Tom, who immediately believes him and is proud of being special. Albus forces Tom to return the items he stole from other children. He gives him money for school supplies and offers to accompany Tom to Diagon Alley, but the boy wants to go alone. Dumbledore is intrigued by and worried about Tom's abilities and his apparent interest in domination and cruelty. He decides to keep a close watch on him for his own sake as well as for others (HBP13).
• Tom goes to Diagon Alley, where he buys his wand at Ollivanders. The wand core is a phoenix feather from Fawkes (PS5, GF36).

September 1:

• Tom starts his first year at Hogwarts. He is Sorted into Slytherin (PS5).

1939

October 27:

• Real World: John Cleese, the actor who plays Nearly Headless Nick in the first two Harry Potter movies, is born.

1940s

Full article: 1940s

1950s

Full article: 1950s

1960s

Full article: 1960s

1970s

Full article: 1970s

1980s

Full article: 1980s

1990s

Full article: 1990s

Timeline inconsistencies

Full article: Timeline Inconsistencies

Ariana's death

Rita Skeeter and Aberforth Dumbledore's accounts of the time of Ariana's death are inconsistent with Elphias Doge's.

• Doge claims that after Kendra's death (June 1899), he travelled the world alone for a year and that Ariana died at the end of his trip. He was back for the funeral. This would place Ariana's death in the summer of 1900 (DH2, DH8).
• Rita and Aberforth both say that Grindelwald arrived at Godric's Hollow shortly after Albus (around July 1899), and Ariana died a few weeks later (at the end of August 1899) (DH18, DH28). Given that this version of events is supported by two sources who both provide more detail than Doge, we'll go with the assumption that their version is correct.

Pollux Black

It is likely that Pollux Black's birth year (1912) is a mistake, given that his daughter Walburga is born only thirteen years later (BFT).

Dorea and Charlus Potter

It has never been confirmed that Dorea is really the mother of James, but it is very likely. The Black family tree shows that Dorea and Charlus had one son, and James was an only child. Also, Harry has no living relatives except for the Dursleys. In this case, however, Dorea gave birth at age thirty-nine or forty (James was born March 27, 1960, DH16), and got no older than fifty-seven (she died in 1977, BFT). This does not match J. K. Rowling's statement that James' parents had him late in life and were "old in wizarding terms" when they died (IME).

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Minerva's birthday was celebrated on J. K. Rowling's website. In an interview in 2000, Rowling stated that McGonagall was "a sprightly seventy years old". At that time, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which ends in the summer of 1995, had been published. If we take Rowling's statement literally and assume that she was speaking of McGonagall's age at the end of book four, that means that she is seventy in the summer of 1995, and will be turning seventy-one in October. This would make her birth year 1924 and the yea she starts Hogwarts 1936. The Harry Potter Lexicon gives her birth year as 1925; however, they make a mistake by simply subtracting seventy years from 1995, disregarding that we know Minerva's birthday. However, it is much more likely that Rowling meant that McGonagall was around seventy instead of speaking of her exact age. We should also not forget that in the same interview, she stated that Dumbledore was 150, when in fact he was more than thirty years younger (his birth year is 1881).
2. ↑ Hagrid says his mother left when he was "about three"; he turned three on December 6, 1931, so 1932 is most likely, but 1931 and 1933 are also possible.