According to Yahoo! writer Daniel Wood,

There are five characters from The Lord of the Rings who should have reprised their roles in The Hobbit:  Aragorn, Gimli, Denethor, Arwen, and Merry, Pippin, and Sam, who for some reason all count as one. (I know they're only halflings, but wouldn't that still make it one and a half?) Anyway, he gives some pretty interesting reasons. 

Even though this has very little to do with hobbits in general, I will devote this post this this awesome Lego creation. In fact, I remember that Merry and Pippin participated in this battle so I am okay after all. It is called 'Last March of the Ents,' and was created by OneLug. It is over 7 feet high and its base, which contains 25 ents and 100 orcs, has a diameter of 8 feet. It was revealed in November, 2011 at the BrickCon in Seattle. It will only be on display at one other place: TheOneRing.net's 'An Unexpected Art show.'
If you click on the picture you can see a much larger version, and it is amazing. It is astoundingly accurate to the scene in The Two Towers, featuring Treebeard, an ent on fire, and water flooding Isengard. You can even see Saruman watching from his balcony. The tower was directly inspired by artwork by Alan Lee, and seems to follow it to a brick. Great job, OneLug!

Hobbits are a very ancient people, yet much younger than men, elves, or dwarves. They did not enter Middle Earth until the Third Age. Indeed, there is not any mention of them until year 1050, when the Harfoots entered Eriador. What follows is a timeline of important events and persons in the history of hobbits.

1050: The Harfoots enter Eriador
1150: The Fallohides enter Eriador; The Stoors enter Dunland through the Redhorn Pass
1300: The Fallohides migrate westward and come to Bree
1601 (SR 1): The Fallohide brothers Marcho and Blanco are the first to cross the Brandywine River and enter the Shire; Shire Reckoning begins
1630 (SR 30): The Stoors migrate from Dunland to the Shire
1636 (SR 36): The Great Plague devastates the hobbits in the Shire
1979 (SR 379): Bucca of the Marish becomes the first Thain of the Shire
2340 (SR 740): Isumbras I becomes the thirteenth Thain of the Shire and starts the Took line; The Oldbucks populate Buckland
2463 (SR 863): Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring, but is murdered by Smeagol, who takes it for himself
2470 (SR 870): Smeagol, having become Gollum, resides withing the Misty Mountains
2670 (SR 1070): Tobold Hornblower (Old Toby) of Longbottom in the Southfarthing grows the first pipe-weed
2683 (SR 1083): Isengrim II becomes the tenth Thain of the Shire: The excavation of the Great Smials begins
2747 (SR 1147): Bandobras Took slays Golfimbul and wins the Battle of the Greenfields in the Northfarthing
2758 (SR 1158): The Long Winter oppresses the Shire; Gandalf comes to the Shire for the first time
2790 (SR 1190): Gerontius Took, later known as the Old Took, is born
2890 (SR 1290): Bilbo Baggins is born
2911 (SR 1311): White Wolves from the north cross the frozen Brandywine River during the Fell Winter
2920 (SR 1320): The Old Took dies
2941-42 (SR 1341-42): The events that are recorded in The Hobbit take place
2949 (SR 1349): Bilbo is visited by his friend Gandalf and Balin
2953 (SR 1353): The spies of Saruman enter the Shire
2968 (SR 1368): Frodo Baggins is born
2983 (SR 1383): Samwise Gamgee is born
3001-21 (SR 1401-21): The events that are recorded in The Lord of the Rings take place
3021 (SR 1401): The Third Age Ends; Elanor Gamgee, daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born
SR 1422: The Fourth Age begins
SR 1427:  Will Whitfoot, Mayor of the Shire, resigns; Samwise takes his place; Peregrin Took marries Diamond of Long Cleeve
SR 1430: Faramir Took, son of Peregrin Took, is born
SR 1431: Goldilocks Gamgee, daughter of Samwise Gamgee, is born
SR 1432: Meriadoc Brandybuck (the Magnificent) becomes Master of Buckland
SR 1434: Peregrin Took becomes the Took and the Thain of the Shire; Samwise is re-elected as Mayor
SR 1436: King Elessar visits Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam at the Brandywine Bridge
SR 1441: Samwise becomes Mayor of the Shire for a third time
SR 1442: Master Samwise, his wife Rose, and daughter Elanor visit Gondor; Master Tolman Cotton acts as deputy Mayor
SR 1448: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a fourth time
SR 1451: Elanor the Fair marries Fastred of Greenholm on the Far Downs
SR 1452: The Westmarch is added to the Shire
SR 1454: Elfstan Fairbairn, son of Fastred and Elanor, is born
SR 1455: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a fifth time; The Thain makes Fastred Warden of Westmarch; Fastred and Elanor make their home at Undertowers on the Tower Hills; Their descendents, Fairbairns of the Towers, dwell there many generations
SR 1462: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a sixth time
SR 1463: Faramir Took marries Goldilocks Gamgee
SR 1469: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a seventh and final time
SR 1482: Mistress Rose, wife of Samwise, dies on Mid Year's Day; Samwise goes to the Grey Havens and passes over the Sea
SR 1484: Master Meriadoc visits Eomer in Rohan; Meriadoc and Peregrin visit Gondor and are buried there

Part I
Part II: Concerning Etymology
Part III: Shire Reckoning
Part IV: Concerning Appearance

Sources:
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1937
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1954-1955

Hobbits generally grow to be between two and four feet tall, with only a few exceptions, such as Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took (4'5"), Meriadoc Brandybuck (4'6"), and Peregrin Took (4'6"). The average height is about three feet six inches, though it has dwindled through the ages and hobbits nowadays commonly measure less than three feet.
Although similar in height to the dwarves, hobbits are smaller and less stocky, having short legs and slightly pointed ears, though not as prominent as those of the elves. Their feet, also, are a distinguishable feature, having tough leathery soles and covered with thick curly hair, like that of their heads, which is commonly brown. Because of this, they do not wear shoes, preferring to go barefoot, and the art of shoe-making is one of the few trades not practiced among hobbits. Their hair color, as mentioned before, is mostly brown, varying in shades, and black is not uncommon. Golden hair was, at least, until the Fourth Age of Middle Earth.
Hobbits, in the dim ages of the past, were divided into three distinct breeds, each with its own customs and physical differences.
The Harfoots, by far the most common, were also the smallest and shortest, representing the 'basic' hobbit. Possessing nimble and neat hands and feet, they had browner skin than the other two breeds, had no facial hair, and almost never wore shoes.
The Stoors were largest and broadest, having heavy hands and feet. They were also the only breed of hobbit that could grow facial hair, making them very distinct. They also, on some occasions, wore shoes.
The Fallohides were the least numerous of the three breeds. They were the tallest and slimmest, having fair skin and hair.

Part I
Part II: Concerning Etymology
Part III: Shire Reckoning

Sources:
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1937
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1954-1955