Born on January 3
Tolkien Birthday Toast
Raise a glass to the Professor.
Next: January 3, 2027
Where it comes from
J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on 3 January 1892, where his father, an English bank clerk, had gone for better prospects. He grew up to be a great scholar of Old and Middle English and was twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford.
How it's celebrated
At 9 pm local time, fans stand, raise a glass and say the toast, simply 'The Professor', before taking a sip and sitting down to enjoy the rest of their drink. The drink is your choice and need not be alcoholic.
Did you know
Tolkien wrote 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit' on a blank page left in a student's exam paper he was marking.
Read the full story of Tolkien Birthday Toast
Star sign
Capricorn · December 22 – January 19 · Earth sign
Patient and ambitious, climbing steadily to the top.