Dragons were "created" by Melkor/Morgoth during the early part of the First Age of the Sun, and for a long time the only dragon mentioned by name was Glaurung, the father of dragons. We may assume that more dragons were being bred in the Pits of Angband during this time.
The first occurrance of more than one dragon was at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, where we read:
Morgoth loosed his last strength, and Angband was emptied. There came wolves, and wolfriders, and there came Balrogs, and dragons, and Glaurung father of dragons. (Silmarillion)
Following this battle, and until the Fall of Gondolin, Glaurung is again the only dragon mentioned as being active in Middle-earth, but at the Fall of Gondolin they come out again (Glaurung had been killed by Turin by this time):
At last, in the year when Earendil was seven years old, Morgoth was ready, and he loosed upon Gondolin his Balrogs, and his Orcs, and his wolves; and with them came dragons of the brood of Glaurung, and they were become now many and terrible. (Silmarillion)
Finally, at the War of Wrath, we see the first appearance of the winged dragons:
But he loosed upon his foes the last desperate assault that he had prepared, and out of the pits of Angband there issued the winged dragons, that had not before been seen... (Silmarillion)
During the War of Wrath most dragons were killed (including Ancalagon); some variants of the texts note that two escaped, but the Silmarillion itself is not specific about the number:
Then the sun rose, and the host of the Valar prevailed, and well-nigh all the dragons were destroyed...
Dragons were entirely inactive during the Second Age, and only reappeared after a good part of the Third Age had passed, as the Tale of Years (LotR Appendix B) notes:
The Dwarves hid themselves in deep places, guarding their hoards; but when evil began to stir again and dragons reappeared, one by one their ancient treasures were plundered...
2570. Baldor son of Brego enters the Forbidden Door and is lost. About this time
Dragons reappear in the far North and begin to afflict the Dwarves.
At no stage is the actual precise number of dragons given.
The most famous dragon in Middle-earth is, of course, the Green one in Bywater.
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