-
1000 BCE
Germanic Indo-European tribes living in parts of modern-day Germany.
-
500 BCE
Celts inhabit much of Europe, and beginning to colonize the British isles.
-
55 BCE
First Roman raids on Britain under Julius Caesar.
-
43
Roman occupation of Britain under Emperor Claudius (Beginning of Roman rule of Britain).
-
Period: 410 to 436
Roman withdrawal from Britain.
-
450
Anglo-Saxon settlement (Angles, Frisians, Saxons, Jutes) of Britain begins. 450-480 Earliest Old English inscriptions
-
Period: 450 to 1100
Old English
-
597
St. Augustine arrives in Britain (beginning of Christian conversion of the Anglo-saxons).
-
600
Anglo-saxon language covers most of modern-day England.
-
731
The Venerable Bede writes "The Ecclesiastical History of English People" (In Latin).
-
792
Vikings raids of Britain Begin.
-
800
Old English epic poem "Beowulf" is composed.
-
865
The Danes launch full-scale invasion and occupation of Northumbria.
-
871
Alfred the Great becomes king of Wessex. Encourages English prose and translation of Latin.
-
871
"The Anglo-saxon Chronicle " is written.
-
911
Beginning of Norman French.
-
1066
Declination of English language
-
1066
The Norman Conquest user William the Conqueror.
-
1086
"Domesday Book" is compiled.
-
1100
London Becomes capital of England.
-
Period: 1100 to 1500
Middle English
-
1150
The oldest surviving manuscripts in Middle English date from this period.
-
1209
Fundation of Cambrige University and Rise of the English Language
-
1337
It is started the Hundred Years War
-
1346
Black Death kills one third of the British Population.
-
1348
Dominence of English Language.
-
1356
The Sheriff’s Court In London and Middlesex were conducted in English for the first time.
-
1362
The Parliament opened the statute of Pleading.
-
1399
Henry IV becomes the first English-speaking monarch.
-
1413
English became the official language of the courts everywhere.
-
1423
Parliaments records start being written in English.
-
1450
The language used in writing town laws. The Great Vowel Shift starts.
-
1476
William Caxton Establishes the Printing Press.
East midland dialect became the literary standard of English. -
1500
Start of English Renaissance
-
Period: 1500 to
Early Modern English
-
Period: 1500 to
Modern English
-
1526
William Tyndale prints his English translation of the New Testament of “The Bible”
-
1539
“The Great Bible” is published
-
1582
Richard Mulcaster proposes in his treatise “Elementaire” a compromise on spelling.
-
William Shakespeare writes his first plays
-
Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, “A Table Alphabeticall”
-
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, established
-
The Authorized King James Version, of “The Bible” is published
-
Death of William Shakespeare
-
Publication of the first English-language newspaper, the “Courante” or “Weekly News”
-
Henry Cockrum publishes his English dictionary.
-
English became the language of the legal documents.
-
Samuel Johnson publishes his “Dictionary of the English Language”
-
British penal colony established in Australia
-
Noah Webster publishes “The American Spelling Book”
-
First English settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
-
Period: to
Late Modern English
-
Noah Webster publishes his “The American Dictionary of the English Language”
-
Abolition of slavery in the British Empire
-
British colony established in new Zealand
-
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) founded
-
First edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published
-
Second edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published