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Eric Blair is born
On June 25,1903 Eric Arthur Blair is born in Motihari, Bengal, a British colony that is now India. -
Moving to England
In 1904, Eric Blair, his mother, Ida Mabel Limouzin Blair, and his sister Marjorie travel to England. Which is where they remain and are raised there, occasionally seeing their father who works in the Indian Civil Service overseeing opium exports to Asia. -
Scholarship to Eton
Eric Blair receives a very prestigious King's Scholarship to attend Eton, a well known prep school in England for boys. The class photo is from 1921, his last year at Eton. -
Blair leaves Eton
In 1921, Blair leaves the prestigious school Eton without a diploma, due to lacking academically. -
Blair in Burma
Eric Blair is posted to Burma after passing the entrance exam of the Indian Imperial Police. His experiences in Burma will provide the content for his first novel, Burmese Days. -
Blair quits Indian Imperial Police
After five years of being in the Imperial Police and contracting dengue fever, Blair leaves Burma due to poor health. He then resigns from the police and returns to England, which is when he decides to become a writer. For the next few years Blair goes around England and Paris, writing and living amongst the poor and working different jobs in between. -
George Orwell is born
In 1933, by combining the names of the then-monarch and a nearby river, Eric Arthur Blair gives himself the name George Orwell as his pen name. -
First novel
Burmese Days, Orwell's first novel is published, giving and insight of the corruption in Burma based off of his experiences there. -
Second novel
Orwell's second novel, A Clergyman's Daughter, is published. He had written the book the previous year while he was recovering from pneumonia. -
Orwell married
George Orwell marries Eileen Maud O'Shaughnessy, who was a student he met in London. They settle down in Hertfordshire, England. -
Spanish Civil War
For six months Orwell is fighting in the Spanish Civil War alongside the left-wing Republican government. He is then shot in the throat but survives, all of his experiences in Spain give him a political awakening and Orwell leaves Spain with a hatred for totalitarianism. Which is where the main ideas of his following works come from. -
Wartime Propaganda Work
Orwell takes a new job with BBC producing wartime propaganda broadcasts for India. -
Leaving BBC
Orwell resigns from BBC -
Socialist Newspaper
Orwell takes up a new job as a literary editor of the Tribune, a weekly socialist newspaper where he writes book reviews and his own column, titled "As I Please." -
Orwell's son
Orwell and his wife adopt their son, who they name Richard Horatio Blair. -
Death of Orwell's wife
During a hysterectomy, Orwell's wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy dies. Leaving Orwell to raise his son alone with help from his sister Avril Blair. -
Animal Farm
Orwell's novel, Animal Farm, is published in the United Kingdom. It gets positive reviews and goes on to be known as one of Orwell's best works, and a year later it's published in the U.S. -
Orwell fell ill
When Orwell returns to London to write, winter is extremely cold and so he burns his books and his son's toys to stay warm. He returns to the Scottish island of Jura in April, and in December his health worsens and he's diagnosed with tuberculosis. -
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is published. The novel is about a dystopian society where the government controls all. -
Death of Eric Arthur Blair
After having such poor health for so long and being diagnosed with tuberculosis Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell, dies. He is buried in Oxfordshire, England beneath a headstone reading "Here lies Eric Arthur Blair."
