Moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International

Developed the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry

Moved to Porto, Portugal to teach English as a foreign language

Was on public assistance for nine months in 1994; during time completed what became her breakthrough book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (retitled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" for publication in the USA)

Signed with Bloomsbury publishing house

Received an £8000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing

An auction was held in the US for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., who paid Rowling more than $100,000

Published "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" with an initial print run of only one-thousand copies

Published "Philosopher’s Stone" in the US under the title of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone"

Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum; "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released in 2001 and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" in 2002; both directed by Chris Columbus

Published "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," the third book in the Harry Potter series of books; film released in 2004 was directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Published "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the fourth book in the Harry Potter series; film released in 2005 and was directed by Mike Newell

Penned "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find," a book written to benefit the British charity Comic Relief

Penned "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth book in the Harry Potter series; film released in 2007 and directed by David Yates

Published "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth novel in the Harry Potter series

Released "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series of novels